Citigroup Increases Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $54.00

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given 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 target price of $54.10.

Vertex Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Vertex stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Monday, reaching $53.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,266,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 789,672. 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 $23.31 and a fifty-two week high of $57.74. The firm's fifty day moving average is $48.42 and its 200-day moving average is $40.74. The company has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 296.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analysts' expectations of $165.70 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. Vertex's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total value of $11,903,390.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,145,708.80. This represents a 42.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $48,289,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,220.90. This trade represents a 99.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,007,563 shares of company stock worth $235,917,246 over the last quarter. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 46.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 4.4% during the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the company's stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter valued at $28,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.