Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $45.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Vertex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Vertex Price Performance

Vertex stock opened at $30.30 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Vertex has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $35.38.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Vertex had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $154.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.44 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $23,773,546.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,716,962.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vertex news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $191,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,616.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $23,773,546.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at $46,716,962.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock valued at $35,034,678. 45.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in Vertex in the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new position in Vertex during the third quarter worth about $863,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Vertex by 131.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 88,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 50,239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

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.