Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Citigroup from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.21% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.10.

Vertex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $52.83. 97,901 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 784,515. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 293.50, a P/E/G ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.17 and a 200 day moving average of $40.59. Vertex has a twelve month low of $23.31 and a twelve month high of $57.74.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $48,289,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,220.90. This represents a 99.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total transaction of $134,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,938.35. This represents a 13.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,432,563 shares of company stock valued at $205,436,496. 44.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 406.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,602 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $22,173,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 3rd quarter worth about $840,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Vertex by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 432,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,639,000 after buying an additional 23,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 248,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,940,000 after acquiring an additional 22,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.