Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Sold by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG reduced its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,560 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,850 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Vertex were worth $1,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,102,000 after buying an additional 54,985 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vertex by 40.1% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 414,945 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Vertex by 36.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,447,000 after acquiring an additional 363,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Stock Performance

VERX stock opened at $46.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 258.39, a P/E/G ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.32. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.17 and a 12-month high of $60.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VERX. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $30,480,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $418,513.95. This represents a 98.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 22,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.55, for a total transaction of $1,103,726.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,530,339.30. This trade represents a 7.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 952,825 shares of company stock valued at $51,112,003. Company 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.