DA Davidson Downgrades Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) to Hold

Key Points

• DA Davidson has downgraded Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, affecting market perceptions of the company.
• Vertex's stock declined by 4.3% on Thursday, closing at $26.31, with analysts predicting Q3 2025 earnings of $0.11 EPS.
• Insiders have sold a total of 3,520,170 shares of Vertex stock in the last three months, indicating potential concerns about company performance.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at DA Davidson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Vertex's Q3 2025 earnings at $0.11 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $0.36 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $0.55 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price target on Vertex and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Vertex Stock Down 4.3%

VERX stock traded down $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.31. 373,503 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,310,476. Vertex has a 12 month low of $25.11 and a 12 month high of $60.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 28.28% and a negative net margin of 7.09%. The company had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,099,127.76. The trade was a 7.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total value of $115,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $303,562.75. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,520,170 shares of company stock valued at $134,479,744 in the last three months. 43.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,398,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,084,000 after buying an additional 450,695 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,017,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,632,000 after buying an additional 974,530 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,031,000 after buying an additional 580,664 shares during the period. 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 valued at $85,054,000 after buying an additional 939,031 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,258,000 after buying an additional 185,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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