Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.73.

VERX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Vertex Stock Performance

Vertex stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,369,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,022,566. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Vertex has a 52-week low of $30.26 and a 52-week high of $60.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 204.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average is $38.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.83.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $177.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,562.75. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,158,398 shares of company stock worth $121,248,979. Corporate insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Institutional investors 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.