The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock Price

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price target lifted by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $42.00 to $59.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.59% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VERX. Baird R W raised Vertex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on Vertex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Three equities 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, Vertex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.30.

Vertex Stock Performance

VERX traded up $1.73 on Thursday, reaching $51.49. 641,217 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 764,118. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.35. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $22.31 and a fifty-two week high of $51.95. 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 capitalization of $8.01 billion, a PE ratio of 430.92, a PEG ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $161.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.66 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 22.32% and a net margin of 3.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $48,289,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $311,220.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO John R. Schwab sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.81, for a total transaction of $895,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,654.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,220.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,629,244 shares of company stock worth $64,039,589. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the third quarter worth approximately $194,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 414,945 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 406.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,602 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new stake in Vertex during the third quarter worth about $365,000. 59.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.