Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.30.

VERX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Vertex Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $52.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of 290.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.83. 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 12-month low of $23.31 and a 12-month high of $52.93.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm 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 firm's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $121,516,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,065.50. The trade was a 99.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 8,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $420,007.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 782,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,743,947. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,289,756 shares of company stock worth $194,872,224 over the last ninety days. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 126.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth approximately $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.