Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Down 17.3% After Earnings Miss

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) was down 17.3% on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $36.00 and last traded at $35.25. Approximately 643,491 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 938,978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.63.

The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.90 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $735,764.98. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,344,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,136,288.02. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total value of $11,903,390.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,145,708.80. This represents a 42.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 858,457 shares of company stock valued at $46,160,958 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its holdings in Vertex by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Trading Down 19.0 %

The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of 191.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.83.

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.