Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $550.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $500.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $473.98 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $351.44 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The firm has a market cap of $122.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -238.18 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $473.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $475.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,983 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the third 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74,015.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 324,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,977,000 after buying an additional 324,188 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $105,282,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

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.