Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 44,457 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,521,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,457 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.98% of Vertex worth $81,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 1,100.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 572,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,530,000 after buying an additional 524,572 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its stake in Vertex by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,029,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,035,000 after acquiring an additional 440,832 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 363,595 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,444,000 after acquiring an additional 253,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 29.4% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 933,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 211,896 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup upped their price target on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total transaction of $1,555,343.44. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $35.66 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.44. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.22 and a 12-month high of $60.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 198.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. As a group, equities analysts expect 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.