Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.74 and last traded at $56.05, with a volume of 407516 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VERX shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.30.

Vertex Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 303.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $48,289,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,220.90. This represents a 99.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 3,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.08, for a total transaction of $166,341.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,202,949 shares of company stock valued at $192,797,340 in the last 90 days. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VERX. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex by 6.1% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Vertex by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex by 4.4% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. 59.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.