Brokerages Set Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) PT at $52.30

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.30.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Vertex Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $54.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Vertex has a twelve month low of $23.31 and a twelve month high of $55.25. The stock has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.22.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,220.90. This represents a 99.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 40,966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.16, for a total transaction of $2,136,786.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,389,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,457,229.44. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,171,822 shares of company stock valued at $191,086,808. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Vertex during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.10% 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.