Palogic Value Management L.P. Trims Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Palogic Value Management L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Vertex comprises 2.1% of Palogic Value Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Palogic Value Management L.P.’s holdings in Vertex were worth $5,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $3,363,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 406.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 27,602 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the third quarter worth $840,000. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $3,135,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.82.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX opened at $36.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.66 and a 200-day moving average of $46.40. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year high of $60.71. The company has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 200.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

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.