Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.30.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VERX shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Vertex Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $54.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 301.39, a PEG ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.67. Vertex has a twelve month low of $23.31 and a twelve month high of $55.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.55.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. 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 year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,220.90. The trade was a 99.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total value of $2,162,287.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,144,993 shares in the company, valued at $46,967,612.86. This represents a 4.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,202,949 shares of company stock valued at $192,797,340 over the last three months. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Vertex by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.