Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,200,417 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 30% from the previous session’s volume of 920,000 shares.The stock last traded at $51.71 and had previously closed at $52.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VERX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Vertex from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased 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. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.36.

Vertex Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 292.00, a PEG ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.70 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 3,020 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.08, for a total transaction of $166,341.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 26,645 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $1,369,553.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 906,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,571,535.40. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,578,219 shares of company stock valued at $179,270,309 in the last ninety days. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,173,000. Brown Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,938,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in Vertex by 787.0% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 524,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,280,000 after buying an additional 465,610 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vertex by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after buying an additional 414,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Vertex by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,447,000 after buying an additional 363,595 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

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.