Citigroup Boosts Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $54.00

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Citigroup from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.01% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.10.

Vertex Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VERX opened at $53.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.00, a PEG ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. 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 has a 12 month low of $23.31 and a 12 month high of $57.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.74.

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

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $30,480,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $418,513.95. This trade represents a 98.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total transaction of $11,903,390.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,145,708.80. This trade represents a 42.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,007,563 shares of company stock worth $235,917,246 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its position in Vertex by 551.9% during the second quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 949,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,231,000 after buying an additional 803,881 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in Vertex during the second quarter worth $1,334,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Vertex by 545.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 220,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,964,000 after buying an additional 186,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.