Robert W. Baird Begins Coverage on Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX)

Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $36.80.

Vertex Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ VERX opened at $37.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 947.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Vertex has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $40.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.65.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $156.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.50 million. Vertex had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 18.67%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $56,715,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,054,641 shares in the company, valued at $39,875,976.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 45.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VERX. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Sandia Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $159,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the first quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Institutional investors own 59.10% 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.