Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives $514.91 Average Target Price from Analysts

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $515.04.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price target (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $425.30 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $109.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -193.32, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $488.74 and a 200-day moving average of $465.87. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,175,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $731,283,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after buying an additional 1,514,993 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,199,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,746 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.