Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Increases Stock Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 824.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 345,257 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 307,892 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned 0.23% of Vertex worth $9,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Vertex by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,832,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,311,000 after acquiring an additional 452,840 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Vertex in the third quarter worth about $4,763,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 85.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 425,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,822,000 after buying an additional 196,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 5.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,918,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,623,000 after buying an additional 264,884 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 1,195.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,144,000 after acquiring an additional 205,489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.61. The stock had a trading volume of 349,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 422,564. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $17.59 and a one year high of $35.38.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $154.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.44 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $31.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Vertex from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised Vertex from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $23,773,546.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,716,962.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total transaction of $23,773,546.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,716,962.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lisa Butler sold 8,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total transaction of $245,632.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,407.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock valued at $35,034,678. Insiders own 45.00% 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.