Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Down 4.7% – Here’s What Happened

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s share price dropped 4.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $50.56 and last traded at $50.70. Approximately 428,997 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 604,003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson began coverage on Vertex in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.36.

Vertex Stock Down 3.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a PE ratio of 284.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.70 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 52,713 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.02, for a total value of $2,162,287.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,144,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,967,612.86. The trade was a 4.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $30,480,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $418,513.95. The trade was a 98.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,782,563 shares of company stock valued at $187,627,746 over the last quarter. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Vertex by 406.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,602 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth $22,173,000. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Vertex during the 3rd quarter worth $840,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Vertex by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 432,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,639,000 after purchasing an additional 23,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Vertex by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 248,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,940,000 after purchasing an additional 22,514 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is 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.