Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VERX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $36.11.

Vertex Stock Performance

NASDAQ VERX opened at $36.05 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.59 and its 200-day moving average is $29.36. Vertex has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $36.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 901.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 0.68.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $156.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.50 million. Vertex had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 18.67%. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total transaction of $49,395,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,124,328.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 45.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Vertex by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vertex by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Vertex by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 16,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Vertex by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

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.