Analysts Set Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target at $51.00

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VERX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX stock opened at $32.12 on Friday. Vertex has a 1 year low of $27.22 and a 1 year high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.44, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.87.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. Analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total value of $11,903,390.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,145,708.80. This trade represents a 42.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958. 44.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its holdings in Vertex by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex by 126.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is currently 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.