Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $58.91 and last traded at $57.79, with a volume of 697024 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $57.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VERX. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.36.

Vertex Price Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $54.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 320.11, a PEG ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.77.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. Vertex's revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $835,938.35. The trade was a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 26,645 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $1,369,553.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 906,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,571,535.40. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,632,062 shares of company stock valued at $182,311,362. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VERX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex by 191.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 344.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.