Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $45.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Vertex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $35.67.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $29.92 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -299.20, a PEG ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.41. Vertex has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week high of $35.38.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $23,773,546.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,716,962.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider 2020 Irrevocable Trust For Ben sold 30,692 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $927,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total transaction of $23,773,546.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at $46,716,962.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock valued at $35,034,678. Company insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the first quarter valued at $166,000. Finally, F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex in the first quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

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.