Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock Price Down 6.1% – Time to Sell?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s stock price traded down 6.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $32.10 and last traded at $31.99. 281,648 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 906,744 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

Vertex Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.56, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.60.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $30,480,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $418,513.95. The trade was a 98.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total transaction of $11,903,390.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at $16,145,708.80. This represents a 42.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $3,363,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex by 406.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 27,602 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the third quarter worth $840,000. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new position in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $3,135,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.