Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.00.

VERX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Vertex Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of VERX opened at $32.50 on Friday. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 180.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $30,480,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $418,513.95. This trade represents a 98.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VERX. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Vertex by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 509,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,621,000 after purchasing an additional 92,137 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex by 13.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex in the third quarter valued at $693,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new position in Vertex during the 3rd quarter worth $365,000. Hedge funds and other 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.