Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Grows Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 824.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 345,257 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 307,892 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Vertex were worth $9,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Vertex in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 124.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Vertex in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Price Performance

NASDAQ VERX traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.61. 349,516 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 422,564. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $35.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.85.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $146.44 million. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 16.15% and a negative net margin of 2.29%. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VERX shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 12th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Vertex from $31.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America raised Vertex from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lisa Butler sold 8,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total value of $245,632.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,407.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Lisa Butler sold 8,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total value of $245,632.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,407.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John R. Schwab sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,120. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,161,048 shares of company stock valued at $35,034,678 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.