Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Buys 991 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,746 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 991 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Vertex were worth $456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,927,000 after acquiring an additional 137,666 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,102,000 after purchasing an additional 54,985 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,129,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,587,000 after purchasing an additional 439,054 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,447,000 after purchasing an additional 363,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ VERX opened at $35.84 on Friday. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.22 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 199.11, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Five 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.82.

Vertex Profile

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.