Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VERX. Stephens cut their target price on Vertex from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down from $19.00) on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Vertex from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen began coverage on Vertex in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Vertex from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.43.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $12.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.67 and a 200-day moving average of $12.53. Vertex has a 12 month low of $10.21 and a 12 month high of $26.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 645.32 and a beta of 0.83.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $203.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.21 million. Vertex had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex

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

About Vertex

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.