Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 991,943 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 72% from the previous session's volume of 575,483 shares.The stock last traded at $29.35 and had previously closed at $27.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.67.

Vertex Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -289.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50-day moving average is $29.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $154.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.44 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $894,594.58. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,338,465 shares in the company, valued at $44,999,193.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total value of $894,594.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,338,465 shares in the company, valued at $44,999,193.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $191,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,616.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,161,048 shares of company stock worth $35,034,678 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VERX. Legacy Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 1,517.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 3,244,871 shares of the company's stock worth $87,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,193 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Vertex by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,555,808 shares of the company's stock worth $149,673,000 after purchasing an additional 637,075 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,832,620 shares of the company's stock worth $76,311,000 after purchasing an additional 452,840 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 9.5% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 4,651,701 shares of the company's stock worth $107,454,000 after purchasing an additional 404,550 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Vertex in the first quarter worth $12,043,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.10% 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.