Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Down 4.7% – Time to Sell?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s stock price dropped 4.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $50.56 and last traded at $50.70. Approximately 428,997 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 604,003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VERX shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.36.

Vertex Trading Down 3.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 285.11, a P/E/G ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.49.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total transaction of $2,162,287.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,144,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,967,612.86. The trade was a 4.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $735,764.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,344,754 shares in the company, valued at $74,136,288.02. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,782,563 shares of company stock valued at $187,627,746. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Vertex by 545.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 220,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,964,000 after buying an additional 186,676 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 13.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Vertex by 5,910.7% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 73,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,639,000 after purchasing an additional 71,992 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,053,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $245,000. 70.32% 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.