JMP Securities Reaffirms "Market Outperform" Rating for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX)

Key Points

• JMP Securities has lowered its price target for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) from $61.00 to $50.00, while maintaining a "market outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 73.48% from its current price.
• Vertex's stock has seen mixed ratings from analysts, with two holds, ten buys, and one strong buy, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.92.
• Insider transactions have raised concerns, as significant shares have been sold, including a 99.74% ownership reduction by Jeffrey Westphal, indicating potential shifts in investor confidence.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market outperform" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at JMP Securities in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $50.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $61.00. JMP Securities' price target suggests a potential upside of 94.78% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VERX. 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 note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Five investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Vertex Price Performance

Vertex stock opened at $25.67 on Thursday. Vertex has a 52 week low of $25.11 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The company's 50 day moving average price is $35.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Vertex's revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In related news, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,066,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $218,690.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock valued at $134,479,744 over the last ninety days. 43.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Vertex by 342.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company's stock worth $80,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,576 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth $61,825,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 47.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,017,735 shares of the company's stock worth $106,632,000 after purchasing an additional 974,530 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 63.0% during 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 buying an additional 939,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth $27,399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.