Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target Raised to $62.00 at Morgan Stanley

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $50.00 to $62.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.58% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on VERX. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised Vertex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.30.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.83 on Wednesday, hitting $50.58. 1,107,016 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 786,597. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 282.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.00. Vertex has a 1-year low of $23.31 and a 1-year high of $52.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company's revenue 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $46,967,612.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total value of $2,162,287.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,144,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,967,612.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total value of $575,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,635 shares in the company, valued at $777,778.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,664,374 shares of company stock worth $65,829,150. 44.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VERX. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 551.9% in the second quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 949,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,231,000 after purchasing an additional 803,881 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter worth $22,173,000. Brown Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the third quarter worth $20,938,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in Vertex by 787.0% during the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 524,775 shares of the company's stock worth $19,280,000 after buying an additional 465,610 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex by 40.1% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company's stock worth $55,863,000 after buying an additional 414,945 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% 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.