Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $55.52 and last traded at $55.15, with a volume of 747701 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VERX. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on Vertex from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.30.

Vertex Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a PE ratio of 301.39, a P/E/G ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Vertex’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $48,289,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,220.90. The trade was a 99.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total value of $2,162,287.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,144,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,967,612.86. The trade was a 4.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,202,949 shares of company stock worth $192,797,340. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Vertex by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at $68,000. 59.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.