The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $48.00

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $64.00 to $48.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 49.02% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on VERX. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $32.21 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.67 and its 200 day moving average is $46.84. Vertex has a twelve month low of $27.22 and a twelve month high of $60.71. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $30,480,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $418,513.95. This represents a 98.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958 in the last 90 days. 44.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.