Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sets New 52-Week High at $36.40

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $36.40 and last traded at $36.14, with a volume of 694120 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.11.

Vertex Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 915.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.91. 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 (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). Vertex had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The business had revenue of $156.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total transaction of $49,395,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,124,328.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 45.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Vertex in the third quarter worth about $4,763,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex by 5.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,918,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,623,000 after acquiring an additional 264,884 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $347,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in Vertex by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 18,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 5,340 shares during the period. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.10% 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.