Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $58.20 and last traded at $57.38, with a volume of 42416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VERX. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.36.

Vertex Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 316.67, a PEG ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.77.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company 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 firm earned $0.06 EPS. Vertex’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,938.35. This trade represents a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $69,428,435.36. This represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,632,062 shares of company stock worth $182,311,362 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Vertex by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.