Needham & Company LLC Issues Positive Forecast for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock Price

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective boosted by Needham & Company LLC from $45.00 to $60.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on VERX. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Baird R W raised Vertex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.27.

Vertex Price Performance

NASDAQ VERX traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $51.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,737,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,053. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 285.17, a P/E/G ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.67. Vertex has a 1-year low of $22.63 and a 1-year high of $52.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.45.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $161.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.66 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 25.27%. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total value of $575,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,635 shares in the company, valued at $777,778.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 16,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total transaction of $575,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $777,778.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John R. Schwab sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.81, for a total transaction of $895,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,104 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,654.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,629,244 shares of company stock worth $64,039,589 over the last 90 days. 44.58% 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. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Amalgamated Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. 59.10% 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.