Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Buy” Rating

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $35.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.57% from the company’s current price.

VERX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Vertex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX stock opened at $42.17 on Monday. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $21.92 and a fifty-two week high of $43.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 351.42, a PEG ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $161.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.66 million. Vertex had a net margin of 3.20% and a return on equity of 22.32%. Vertex’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. Analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total transaction of $2,162,287.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,144,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,967,612.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total transaction of $2,162,287.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,144,993 shares in the company, valued at $46,967,612.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total value of $575,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,635 shares in the company, valued at $777,778.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,629,244 shares of company stock valued at $64,039,589 in the last 90 days. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex by 4.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,791,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,929,000 after buying an additional 235,407 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vertex by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,386,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,046,000 after purchasing an additional 30,523 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in Vertex by 551.9% in the second quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 949,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,231,000 after purchasing an additional 803,881 shares in the last quarter. Pembroke Management LTD grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 255.3% during the first quarter. Pembroke Management LTD now owns 927,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,446,000 after purchasing an additional 666,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 8.1% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 782,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,217,000 after buying an additional 58,678 shares in the last quarter. 59.10% of the stock is owned by 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.