Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Short Interest Up 31.8% in June

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,298,200 shares, an increase of 31.8% from the May 31st total of 3,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 886,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.11.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.05. The stock had a trading volume of 8,767,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,029,271. 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 company has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 901.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 0.68. Vertex has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $36.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.36.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,124,328.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Sandia Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Vertex during the first quarter valued at approximately $159,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the first quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the first quarter valued at approximately $192,000. 59.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.