Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock Price

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.70.

Vertex Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:VERX opened at $53.06 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.78, a P/E/G 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.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.70 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $48,289,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,220.90. This trade represents a 99.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,938.35. The trade was a 13.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VERX. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 406.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after buying an additional 27,602 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the second quarter worth about $22,173,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $840,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Vertex by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 432,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,639,000 after purchasing an additional 23,086 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 248,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,940,000 after purchasing an additional 22,514 shares in the last quarter. 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.