Bank of America Cuts Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $34.00

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price objective decreased by Bank of America from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Vertex from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $31.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $35.67.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $29.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.00. Vertex has a one year low of $17.59 and a one year high of $35.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of -294.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.62.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Vertex had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $154.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.44 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,338,465 shares in the company, valued at $44,999,193.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 791,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total transaction of $23,773,546.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,554,641 shares in the company, valued at $46,716,962.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 26,609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,338,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,999,193.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,161,048 shares of company stock worth $35,034,678 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,832,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,311,000 after acquiring an additional 452,840 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the third quarter worth about $4,763,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 85.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 425,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,822,000 after acquiring an additional 196,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 5.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,918,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,623,000 after acquiring an additional 264,884 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 1,195.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,144,000 after acquiring an additional 205,489 shares during the period. 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.