Vertex’s (VERX) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 68.02% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.82.

Vertex Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ VERX opened at $35.71 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.38. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 198.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. Vertex has a 52-week low of $27.22 and a 52-week high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $178.46 million for 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total transaction of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Vertex by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 569 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.