Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Vertex from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Vertex from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down from $19.00) on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.43.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX stock opened at $12.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. Vertex has a 52-week low of $10.21 and a 52-week high of $26.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 647.82 and a beta of 0.83.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $203.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.21 million. Vertex had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VERX. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 12,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,631 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Vertex by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Vertex by 20.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 34,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Vertex in the first quarter valued at about $132,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the second quarter valued at about $166,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vertex

Vertex, Inc (NASDAQ:VERX) is a provider of tax technology solutions designed to help businesses manage transaction tax compliance. Its software supports the calculation, collection, reporting and remittance of taxes such as sales and use tax, value-added tax, goods and services tax, and communications tax.

The company offers cloud-based and enterprise tax solutions that integrate with accounting, enterprise resource planning, e-commerce and other business systems. Its products are designed to automate tax determination, tax returns and compliance workflows, manage tax data and support tax content across complex business operations.

Founded in 1978, Vertex is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and serves organizations in the United States and international markets.