Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.36.

Several research firms recently issued reports on VERX. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX opened at $52.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 293.94, a PEG ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. Vertex has a 12-month low of $23.38 and a 12-month high of $57.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.45.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,938.35. The trade was a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $121,516,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,065.50. This represents a 99.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,578,219 shares of company stock worth $179,270,309. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at $68,000. 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.