Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target Cut to $45.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective reduced by Robert W. Baird from $62.00 to $45.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $32.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 179.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. Vertex has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. Analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. This represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $30,480,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $418,513.95. This trade represents a 98.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 858,457 shares of company stock valued at $46,160,958. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. 70.32% of the stock is 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.