Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $600.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

VRTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $477.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $492.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $478.09 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $475.48 and its 200-day moving average is $460.75. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $341.90 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The company has a market capitalization of $123.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -235.51 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,101,755. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $74,213,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $21,008,000. 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.