Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Trading 5.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)’s stock price shot up 5.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $20.63 and last traded at $20.56. 1,080,884 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 1,420,351 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VERX. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Vertex from $40.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price objective on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Vertex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Vertex from a “market outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.60.

Vertex Trading Up 6.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.17, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.60.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $192.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.62 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.32% and a positive return on equity of 26.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. Research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, November 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VERX. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,348,000. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new position in Vertex in the second quarter worth $88,293,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Vertex by 231.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,567,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,490,097 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the second quarter worth $60,381,000. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 2,730.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,343,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,297 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.