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

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s stock price 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 changing hands.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $894,594.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,338,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,999,193.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $191,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,616.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $894,594.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,338,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,999,193.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock worth $35,034,678. Insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the 1st quarter valued at $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Stock Up 3.5 %

The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -289.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.98.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.44 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current 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.