Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 991,943 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 72% from the previous session’s volume of 575,483 shares.The stock last traded at $29.35 and had previously closed at $27.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VERX shares. 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 report 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 report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.67.

Vertex Trading Up 4.2 %

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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.95.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Lisa Butler sold 8,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total transaction of $245,632.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,407.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Lisa Butler sold 8,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total value of $245,632.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,407.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total value of $894,594.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,338,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,999,193.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock worth $35,034,678 over the last ninety days. 45.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vertex by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,832,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,311,000 after acquiring an additional 452,840 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,763,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 425,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,822,000 after buying an additional 196,169 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,918,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,623,000 after acquiring an additional 264,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 1,195.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,144,000 after acquiring an additional 205,489 shares in the last quarter. 59.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.