Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Vertex, Inc. has received a "Moderate Buy" average recommendation from fourteen brokerages, with a price target of $43.69.
• Recent insider trading includes the sale of 3 million shares by Jeffrey Westphal, decreasing his ownership by 99.74%.
• The company reported earnings of $0.15 per share, surpassing estimates, while revenue increased by 14.6% compared to the previous year.

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.6923.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VERX shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total transaction of $115,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $303,562.75. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.93, for a total transaction of $5,672,412.82. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 196,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,072,497.13. This represents a 44.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108. 43.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Vertex in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Vertex by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.34. The company had a trading volume of 903,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,888,945. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.79, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.68 and a 200-day moving average of $36.05. Vertex has a 12 month low of $24.45 and a 12 month high of $60.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.60 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The company's revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.