Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Given New $48.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $62.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 46.35% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong 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 $51.00.

Vertex Stock Down 5.0 %

NASDAQ VERX traded down $1.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.80. 914,703 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,115,544. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.74. Vertex has a 1-year low of $27.22 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 182.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $735,764.98. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,344,754 shares in the company, valued at $74,136,288.02. This represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 216,268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total transaction of $11,903,390.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 293,345 shares in the company, valued at $16,145,708.80. This represents a 42.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 858,457 shares of company stock valued at $46,160,958 over the last 90 days. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by 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.