Franklin Resources Inc. Has $113.59 Million Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,129,099 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 439,054 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.37% of Vertex worth $113,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VERX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,927,000 after buying an additional 137,666 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,102,000 after acquiring an additional 54,985 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vertex by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,447,000 after purchasing an additional 363,595 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Vertex by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,029,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,035,000 after purchasing an additional 440,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,749.36. The trade was a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VERX opened at $37.02 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 205.67, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $60.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.19 and a 200-day moving average of $46.45.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VERX shares. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.82.

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.