DA Davidson Has Lowered Expectations for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock Price

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its target price cut by DA Davidson from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.36.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VERX opened at $38.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 214.72, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Vertex has a twelve month low of $27.22 and a twelve month high of $60.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.03 and a 200 day moving average of $46.44.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 36.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,447,000 after acquiring an additional 363,595 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Vertex by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 582,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,424,000 after purchasing an additional 29,700 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,444,000 after purchasing an additional 253,263 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 933,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 211,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.32% 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.