Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Now Covered by BNP Paribas

Analysts at BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas' price target would indicate a potential upside of 35.88% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on VERX. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.73.

Vertex Stock Up 0.5 %

VERX traded up $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.74. 782,762 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,001,650. Vertex has a 12-month low of $28.04 and a 12-month high of $60.71. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $36.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 220.78, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. Analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at $8,924,000. Westwind Capital raised its position in Vertex by 79.0% in the 1st quarter. Westwind Capital now owns 334,502 shares of the company's stock worth $11,711,000 after purchasing an additional 147,650 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Vertex by 3,751.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,087 shares of the company's stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 7,877 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 23.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 694,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,323,000 after buying an additional 133,541 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 13.9% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 2,251 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.