Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Coverage Initiated at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.97% from the stock’s previous close.

VERX has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Vertex from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Vertex from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.80.

Vertex Stock Down 5.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $37.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 960.00, a PEG ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 0.69. Vertex has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $40.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.60.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $155.50 million. Vertex had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 18.67%. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $56,715,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,054,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,875,976.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Vertex by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vertex by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 16,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Vertex by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.