BMO Capital Markets Lowers Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $30.00

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has reduced its target price for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) from $38.00 to $30.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 10.70% from the current price.
• Vertex has seen mixed analyst ratings, with a consensus of nine buy ratings, three hold ratings, and one strong buy, while the average price target is $45.83.
• Insiders have sold a significant amount of shares recently, with total insider sales exceeding $134 million over the last quarter.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $38.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.87% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on VERX. Piper Sandler began coverage on Vertex in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded Vertex to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Vertex from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Vertex Trading Down 6.6%

VERX stock traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $25.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,059,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,437. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $35.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Vertex has a 52 week low of $25.11 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of -77.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The company had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $218,690.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,066,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock valued at $134,479,744. 43.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Vertex by 31.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,467 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Vertex by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the company's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Vertex by 25.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Vertex by 44.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,664 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC increased its position in Vertex by 9.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 6,464 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.32% of the company's stock.

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.