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

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $58.20 and last traded at $57.38, with a volume of 42416 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $57.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.36.

Vertex Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 313.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.62 and its 200 day moving average is $44.18.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $121,516,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,065.50. The trade was a 99.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 26,645 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $1,369,553.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 906,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,571,535.40. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,578,219 shares of company stock valued at $179,270,309. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at $245,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 248,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,940,000 after purchasing an additional 22,514 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 668,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,088,000 after purchasing an additional 40,593 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank bought a new position in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new position in Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $230,000. 70.32% 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.