Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $32.00. The stock had previously closed at $30.04, but opened at $27.99. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vertex shares last traded at $28.00, with a volume of 839,358 shares trading hands.

VERX has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Vertex from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.67.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was 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 $46,716,962.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 173,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.34, for a total value of $5,260,682.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,165,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,348,345.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,716,962.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock valued at $35,034,678. Insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VERX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its holdings in Vertex by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 1st quarter worth about $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -279.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $154.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.44 million. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 16.15% and a negative net margin of 2.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.