Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $20.00 to $30.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC‘s price target points to a potential upside of 75.64% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VERX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Vertex from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens lowered their target price on Vertex from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vertex from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Vertex from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.79.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,635,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,428. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.28. Vertex has a 1-year low of $10.21 and a 1-year high of $20.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.90 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. Vertex had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm had revenue of $213.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $209.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Vertex’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex by 841.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 25.4% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 12,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 74.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the third quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Vertex by 20.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 34,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Vertex News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex earned $0.26 per share, topping the $0.22 consensus estimate and improving on $0.17 a year earlier. Revenue of $213.28 million also beat estimates of $209.72 million and increased 11% year over year. Vertex Q3 results and guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Needham raised its price target from $20 to $30 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling increased optimism about the shares. Needham price-target update
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler lifted its target from $16 to $20, although it kept a Neutral rating. Piper Sandler recommendations
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis downgraded Vertex and advised investors to lock in gains after the rebound, presenting a counterpoint to the bullish target revisions. Vertex Software: Lock In Gains On This Rebound

About Vertex

Vertex, Inc is a tax technology company that provides software and services to help businesses manage tax determination, compliance and reporting. Its solutions are designed to support complex transaction tax requirements across sales and use tax, value-added tax, goods and services tax, communications tax, and other indirect taxes.

The company’s offerings include cloud-based and enterprise tax software, tax calculation engines, compliance and returns management tools, tax data management, and related professional services.