Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $36.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vertex traded as high as $36.34 and last traded at $36.15, with a volume of 97352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.79.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.11.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $49,395,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,124,328.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 45.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Sandia Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Vertex during the 1st quarter valued at $159,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter valued at $166,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the 1st quarter worth $192,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 897.50, a P/E/G ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.31.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). Vertex had a return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 1.29%. The firm had revenue of $156.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.50 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.19 earnings per share 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.