Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research 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 company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.36.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In related news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,938.35. This trade represents a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 56,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.77, for a total value of $2,300,202.63. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 932,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,026,423.62. The trade was a 5.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,634,638 shares of company stock valued at $181,570,512. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,102,000 after purchasing an additional 54,985 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,444,000 after buying an additional 253,263 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 414,945 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,447,000 after acquiring an additional 363,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $52.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.06, a PEG ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. Vertex has a 12-month low of $23.31 and a 12-month high of $57.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

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.