Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and sixteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $486.36.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.7 %

VRTX stock opened at $464.92 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $482.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $452.40. The stock has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $341.85 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released 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). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, 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 value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after buying an additional 394,338 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st 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. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after buying an additional 837,461 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,080,296,000 after buying an additional 244,336 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.