Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.82.

VERX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

Vertex Trading Up 0.5 %

Vertex stock opened at $35.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. The stock has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 197.44, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.52.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.90 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value 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 approximately $69,428,435.36. This represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter valued at $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter worth $3,363,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 406.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 27,602 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $840,000. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new stake in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at $3,135,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Company Profile

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.