Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Down 5.7% Following Insider Selling

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 5.7% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $33.75 and last traded at $33.36. 294,249 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,045,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.36.

Specifically, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total transaction of $508,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 173,074 shares in the company, valued at $6,099,127.76. This represents a 7.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 8,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.12, for a total transaction of $310,179.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 188,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,602,876.08. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VERX. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson cut their target price on Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.50.

Vertex Trading Up 1.5%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.19. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 28.14% and a negative net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $177.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake 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 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex by 25.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. 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.