Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $31.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $58.00.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on VERX. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company 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. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

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Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.21. 2,269,269 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 900,831. Vertex has a 12-month low of $27.22 and a 12-month high of $60.71. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $51.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.84. 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 (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. Research analysts expect that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $735,764.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,344,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $74,136,288.02. This represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $30,480,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $418,513.95. This trade represents a 98.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958 over the last 90 days. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Vertex by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the company's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Vertex by 6.1% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 126.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.