Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $58.20 and last traded at $57.38, with a volume of 42416 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $57.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.36.

Vertex Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.18. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 313.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $735,764.98. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,344,754 shares in the company, valued at $74,136,288.02. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total transaction of $134,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,535 shares in the company, valued at $835,938.35. This represents a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,578,219 shares of company stock worth $179,270,309. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VERX. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its position in Vertex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 6.1% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 126.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 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.