Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Trading Down 7.5% – Here’s What Happened

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s stock price dropped 7.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $46.68 and last traded at $46.76. Approximately 561,098 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 829,390 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VERX has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.36.

Vertex Stock Up 2.2 %

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 company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 258.39, a P/E/G ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Destefano sold 22,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.55, for a total value of $1,103,726.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,530,339.30. This represents a 7.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 952,825 shares of company stock valued at $51,112,003. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,927,000 after purchasing an additional 137,666 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in Vertex by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,527,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,198,000 after purchasing an additional 53,829 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Vertex by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,031,000 after purchasing an additional 580,664 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,129,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,587,000 after purchasing an additional 439,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Vertex by 342.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,576 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.