The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $48.00

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $64.00 to $48.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VERX. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.00.

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Vertex Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of VERX traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $34.06. 2,655,789 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 908,428. The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.22, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. 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 has a 52 week low of $27.22 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The company's 50 day moving average is $50.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other news, 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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 $74,136,288.02. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958. Insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. 70.32% of the stock is 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.