Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $60.71 and last traded at $58.96, with a volume of 105158 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VERX has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.36.

Vertex Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 315.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,938.35. The trade was a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,605,417 shares of company stock valued at $180,941,809. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,102,000 after acquiring an additional 54,985 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 17.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,444,000 after purchasing an additional 253,263 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after buying an additional 414,945 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Vertex by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,447,000 after buying an additional 363,595 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after buying an additional 37,592 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.