Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Given New $48.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $62.00 to $48.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

VERX has been the subject of several other reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Vertex Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $32.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 179.39, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.52 and a 200 day moving average of $46.74.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.90 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $735,764.98. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,344,754 shares in the company, valued at $74,136,288.02. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total value of $11,903,390.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 858,457 shares of company stock worth $46,160,958. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth about $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth about $3,363,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 406.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,602 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the third quarter worth about $840,000. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter worth 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.