Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 5,411 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 53.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,551 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,411 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Vertex were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.82.

Vertex Stock Down 0.8 %

VERX opened at $36.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 200.89, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.22 and a 1-year high of $60.71. 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 earnings results 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 return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company 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 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. This represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.