Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to “Hold”

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) was downgraded by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $31.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $58.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential downside of 10.25% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on VERX. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.91.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $34.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of 191.89, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Vertex has a 12 month low of $24.86 and a 12 month high of $60.71.

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

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total transaction of $11,903,390.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at $16,145,708.80. This trade represents a 42.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $735,764.98. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,344,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,136,288.02. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 858,457 shares of company stock valued at $46,160,958 over the last three months. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex by 126.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by 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.