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

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 target price decreased by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $38.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target points to a potential upside of 17.57% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Vertex from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of Vertex stock traded down $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $25.52. 640,088 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,324,140. The firm's 50 day moving average is $35.35 and its 200-day moving average is $38.89. Vertex has a one year low of $25.11 and a one year high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of -77.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total value of $508,337.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 173,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,099,127.76. The trade was a 7.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $218,690.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock worth $134,479,744 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in Vertex by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,527,604 shares of the company's stock worth $188,198,000 after acquiring an additional 53,829 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,398,435 shares of the company's stock worth $120,084,000 after buying an additional 450,695 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,017,735 shares of the company's stock worth $106,632,000 after buying an additional 974,530 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock worth $153,031,000 after buying an additional 580,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 63.0% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,429,416 shares of the company's stock worth $85,054,000 after purchasing an additional 939,031 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.