Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Raised to $555.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price target lifted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $540.00 to $555.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.41% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $462.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $456.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $444.23.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $468.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $335.82 and a 12 month high of $486.42. The firm has a market cap of $120.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $437.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.99.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 7,288 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total transaction of $3,483,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,634,616. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 7,288 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total transaction of $3,483,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,634,616. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,086 shares of company stock worth $11,983,266 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after buying an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after purchasing an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,237,877,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.