MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Vertex by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 158,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.27, for a total transaction of $5,922,203.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,430,100 shares in the company, valued at $53,299,827. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total transaction of $121,516,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $386,065.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 158,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.27, for a total transaction of $5,922,203.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,430,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,299,827. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,149,374 shares of company stock valued at $187,345,650. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on VERX shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Baird R W raised shares of Vertex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.30.

Vertex Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded down $1.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.57. 94,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 783,468. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 281.00, a P/E/G ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.09. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.31 and a 1 year high of $52.93.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex

Vertex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise tax technology solutions for retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing industries in the United States and internationally. The company offers tax determination; compliance and reporting, including workflow management tools, role-based security, and event logging; tax data management; document management; analytics and insights; pre-built integration that includes mapping data fields, and business logic and configurations; industry-specific solutions; and technology specific solutions, such as chain flow accelerator and SAP-specific tools.