Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on VRTX. Guggenheim upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $465.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $471.06. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $341.90 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by 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.