Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $60.71 and last traded at $58.96, with a volume of 105158 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $58.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VERX. DA Davidson started coverage on Vertex in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Vertex from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.36.

Vertex Stock Up 1.3 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.71. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 327.44, a P/E/G ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. This represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total transaction of $121,516,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $386,065.50. This represents a 99.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,605,417 shares of company stock valued at $180,941,809. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VERX. FMR LLC grew its position in Vertex by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,102,000 after acquiring an additional 54,985 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex by 17.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,444,000 after buying an additional 253,263 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex by 40.1% during the third 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 period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,447,000 after acquiring an additional 363,595 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Vertex by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares during the period. 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.