Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Hits New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) reached a new 12-month low, trading at $24.45 during mid-day transactions, prompting investors to question whether it is time to sell.
• Despite the recent drop, analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $43.69, indicating potential for recovery.
• Insider trading activity shows significant sell-offs, with one insider offloading 3 million shares for approximately $115 million, suggesting caution among company executives.

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $24.45 and last traded at $24.86, with a volume of 83828 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VERX shares. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup raised Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Vertex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.69.

Vertex Stock Up 0.1%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $33.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Vertex's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. 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 the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total value of $508,337.00. Following the sale, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total transaction of $115,350,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $303,562.75. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the 2nd quarter worth about $300,348,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,398,435 shares of the company's stock worth $120,084,000 after acquiring an additional 450,695 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex by 47.7% during the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,017,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,632,000 after acquiring an additional 974,530 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in Vertex in the second quarter worth $88,293,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex by 63.0% during the first 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.