Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target Cut to $32.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on VERX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America cut their target price on Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Vertex Stock Down 7.0 %

VERX stock opened at $27.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -279.50, a PEG ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 0.62. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $35.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.36 and a 200-day moving average of $26.95.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $154.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.44 million. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 16.15% and a negative net margin of 2.29%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider 2020 Irrevocable Trust For Ben sold 47,522 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.09, for a total transaction of $1,429,936.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 81,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,448,152.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider 2020 Irrevocable Trust For Ben sold 47,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.09, for a total transaction of $1,429,936.98. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 81,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,448,152.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Lisa Butler sold 8,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total value of $245,632.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 250 shares in the company, valued at $7,407.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock worth $35,034,678. 45.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,832,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,311,000 after purchasing an additional 452,840 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in Vertex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,763,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Vertex by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 425,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,822,000 after purchasing an additional 196,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vertex by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,918,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,623,000 after purchasing an additional 264,884 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Vertex by 1,195.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,144,000 after purchasing an additional 205,489 shares during the period. 59.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vertex

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.