Citigroup Increases Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $36.00

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its target price hoisted by Citigroup from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on VERX. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $36.11.

Vertex Price Performance

Vertex stock opened at $36.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 901.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.35 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Vertex has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $36.36.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $156.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.50 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 1.29%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total transaction of $49,395,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,554,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,124,328.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,640,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Vertex by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 16,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Vertex by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 2,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

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.