Ellsworth Advisors LLC Buys 584 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,291 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex were worth $922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Vertex by 270,150.0% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,403 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Vertex by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 933,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 211,896 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Vertex by 17.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,444,000 after purchasing an additional 253,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the third quarter valued at about $2,354,000. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.36.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX opened at $56.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 313.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.77. Vertex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.17 and a 52-week high of $57.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. Vertex’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $735,764.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,344,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,136,288.02. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 26,645 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $1,369,553.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 906,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,571,535.40. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,578,219 shares of company stock valued at $179,270,309 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

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.