The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Stock Price

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $42.00 to $59.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.59% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VERX. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of Vertex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.30.

Vertex Trading Up 3.5 %

Vertex stock traded up $1.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $51.49. 641,217 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 764,118. Vertex has a fifty-two week low of $22.31 and a fifty-two week high of $51.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 430.92, a PEG ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 3.20% and a return on equity of 22.32%. The firm had revenue of $161.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.66 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.04 earnings per share. Vertex’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, CFO John R. Schwab sold 25,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.81, for a total value of $895,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,654.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $48,289,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $311,220.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John R. Schwab sold 25,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,654.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,629,244 shares of company stock worth $64,039,589. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in Vertex by 551.9% in the second quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 949,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,231,000 after acquiring an additional 803,881 shares during the last quarter. Pembroke Management LTD lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 255.3% during the 1st quarter. Pembroke Management LTD now owns 927,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,446,000 after buying an additional 666,223 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,173,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $55,863,000 after buying an additional 414,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,402,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

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.