Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target Cut to $32.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

VERX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Vertex from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $35.67.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VERX opened at $29.41 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $29.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.00. Vertex has a 52-week low of $17.59 and a 52-week high of $35.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -294.10, a P/E/G ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.62.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at $46,716,962.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $894,594.58. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,338,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,999,193.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total transaction of $23,773,546.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at $46,716,962.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock worth $35,034,678. 45.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its position in Vertex by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in Vertex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Vertex by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at $863,000. 59.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.