Baird Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 118,360 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,355 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vertex were worth $6,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in Vertex by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 582,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,424,000 after purchasing an additional 29,700 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 270,150.0% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 5,403 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 17,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in Vertex by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of VERX stock opened at $37.58 on Friday. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.63 and a 1 year high of $60.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.13. The company has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 208.76, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $177.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 44.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on VERX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.73.

Vertex Company 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.