Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sees Large Volume Increase - Here's Why

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,200,417 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 30% from the previous session's volume of 920,000 shares.The stock last traded at $51.71 and had previously closed at $52.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on VERX shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.36.

Vertex Stock Performance

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 capitalization of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 293.94, a PEG ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.33.

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

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $30,480,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $418,513.95. The trade was a 98.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares in the company, valued at $835,938.35. This trade represents a 13.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,578,219 shares of company stock valued at $179,270,309. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth $22,173,000. Brown Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the third quarter valued at about $20,938,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 787.0% during the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 524,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,280,000 after acquiring an additional 465,610 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company's stock worth $55,863,000 after buying an additional 414,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 36.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,447,000 after buying an additional 363,595 shares during the period. 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.