Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Price

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $433.00 to $450.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 2.39% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $504.63.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded down $8.97 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $461.00. The stock had a trading volume of 195,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,538,702. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $435.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $462.13. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $118.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -231.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $662,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 3,508 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after purchasing an additional 57,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,429 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,783,000 after buying an additional 55,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.