Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $50.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities increased their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Vertex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $42.23. 871,980 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,305. Vertex has a twelve month low of $21.92 and a twelve month high of $43.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $39.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.05. The company has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 351.42, a PEG ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $161.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.66 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 22.32% and a net margin of 3.20%. The company's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 56,419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.77, for a total value of $2,300,202.63. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 932,706 shares in the company, valued at $38,026,423.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Vertex news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 158,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.27, for a total value of $5,922,203.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,430,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,299,827. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 56,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.77, for a total transaction of $2,300,202.63. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 932,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,026,423.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,629,244 shares of company stock valued at $64,039,589. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex in the second quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Sandia Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth about $159,000. 59.10% of the stock is owned by 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.