Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $431.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential downside of 9.88% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on VRTX. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $4.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $478.26. The stock had a trading volume of 121,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,183,137. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $483.42 and its 200 day moving average is $451.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $341.85 and a twelve month high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.