Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Given New $48.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price target reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $64.00 to $48.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Five 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX opened at $33.04 on Monday. Vertex has a twelve month low of $27.22 and a twelve month high of $60.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 183.56, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly 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). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,344,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,136,288.02. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,145,708.80. This represents a 42.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 858,457 shares of company stock valued at $46,160,958 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during 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.