Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Trading Down 4.2% - What's Next?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) dropped 4.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $35.40 and last traded at $35.39. Approximately 887,403 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 1,026,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.50.

Vertex Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -122.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a negative net margin of 6.45% and a positive return on equity of 28.14%. The company had revenue of $177.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction 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 now owns 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $303,562.75. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,066,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,210,329.90. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,115,170 shares of company stock valued at $119,693,636 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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