Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Trading Down 7.5% – Here’s What Happened

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) dropped 7.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $46.68 and last traded at $46.76. Approximately 561,098 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 829,390 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.36.

Vertex Trading Up 2.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a PE ratio of 258.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.32.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, CEO David Destefano sold 22,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.55, for a total value of $1,103,726.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 293,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,530,339.30. The trade was a 7.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 952,825 shares of company stock valued at $51,112,003. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,927,000 after purchasing an additional 137,666 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,527,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,198,000 after acquiring an additional 53,829 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,031,000 after acquiring an additional 580,664 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,129,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,587,000 after acquiring an additional 439,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 342.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,576 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

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.