Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. 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. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.70.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $53.06. 1,387,609 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 792,764. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average is $48.66 and its 200 day moving average is $40.88. Vertex has a 1-year low of $23.31 and a 1-year high of $57.74. The stock has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 294.78, 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $835,938.35. This represents a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $735,764.98. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,344,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $74,136,288.02. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,007,563 shares of company stock worth $235,917,246 over the last three months. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Vertex during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its position in shares of Vertex by 551.9% in the 2nd 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. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,334,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Vertex by 545.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 220,906 shares of the company's stock worth $7,964,000 after buying an additional 186,676 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 16.9% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.