Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.30.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Vertex from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $54.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 301.39, a P/E/G ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.55. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $23.31 and a fifty-two week high of $55.52.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $48,289,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,220.90. This represents a 99.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total transaction of $2,162,287.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,144,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,967,612.86. This trade represents a 4.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,202,949 shares of company stock worth $192,797,340. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the third 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. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank bought a new position in Vertex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. 59.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.