Brokerages Set Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Target Price at $49.82

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.82.

Several research firms recently weighed in on VERX. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Stock Down 0.9 %

Vertex stock opened at $35.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Vertex has a 1-year low of $27.22 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.52. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 197.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.