Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock Price

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Citigroup from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.01% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.10.

Vertex Price Performance

NASDAQ:VERX opened at $53.46 on Monday. Vertex has a 52 week low of $23.31 and a 52 week high of $57.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.74. The company has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.00, a P/E/G ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Vertex’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $30,480,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $418,513.95. The trade was a 98.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at $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 5,007,563 shares of company stock worth $235,917,246. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Vertex in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in Vertex in the second quarter valued at $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

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.