Wall Street Zen Upgrades Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) to Buy

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on VERX. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Vertex from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Vertex from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

Vertex Stock Up 1.2%

VERX stock opened at $13.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.59. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09 and a beta of 0.83. Vertex has a twelve month low of $10.21 and a twelve month high of $26.54.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. Vertex had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company had revenue of $203.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.21 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,563,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in Vertex by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 88,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 53,319 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $938,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,182,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Vertex in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,766,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Company Profile

Vertex, Inc (NASDAQ:VERX) is a provider of tax technology solutions designed to help businesses manage transaction tax compliance. Its software supports the calculation, collection, reporting and remittance of taxes such as sales and use tax, value-added tax, goods and services tax, and communications tax.

The company offers cloud-based and enterprise tax solutions that integrate with accounting, enterprise resource planning, e-commerce and other business systems. Its products are designed to automate tax determination, tax returns and compliance workflows, manage tax data and support tax content across complex business operations.

Founded in 1978, Vertex is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and serves organizations in the United States and international markets.