Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $34.00. The stock had previously closed at $30.04, but opened at $27.99. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vertex shares last traded at $28.00, with a volume of 839,358 shares traded.

VERX has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Vertex from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $31.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.11.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $23,773,546.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,716,962.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vertex news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $191,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,616.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total transaction of $23,773,546.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,716,962.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock valued at $35,034,678. Insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,555,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,673,000 after buying an additional 637,075 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 9.5% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 4,651,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,454,000 after acquiring an additional 404,550 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 1,517.0% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 3,244,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,193 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,832,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,311,000 after acquiring an additional 452,840 shares during the period. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 0.3% during the third quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 2,596,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,968,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the period. 59.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -281.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 0.62.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Vertex had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $154.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.44 million. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex

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.