Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Given New $55.00 Price Target at DA Davidson

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at DA Davidson from $62.00 to $55.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 67.69% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on VERX. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Vertex Stock Down 5.0 %

VERX stock traded down $1.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $32.80. The stock had a trading volume of 914,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,115,544. Vertex has a 1-year low of $27.22 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 182.94, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.74.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were 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 owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at $16,145,708.80. The trade was a 42.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958. 44.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $3,363,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position 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. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $840,000. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,135,000. 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.