Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $596.44

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $596.44.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Evercore upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $654.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,975,849,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,871,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,896,910,000 after buying an additional 141,320 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,247,658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,613,209,000 after buying an additional 35,069 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,086,683 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,533,248,000 after buying an additional 29,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $1,509,651,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $550.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $522.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $482.40. The firm has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $410.50 and a 12-month high of $568.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($0.06). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.70% and a return on equity of 21.98%. The company had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 16.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1989, it develops medicines for serious diseases, with a long-standing focus on cystic fibrosis (CF).

Vertex’s CF treatments include medicines that target the underlying protein defect, such as Trikafta/Kaftrio, Alyftrek, Kalydeco, Orkambi and Symdeko/Symkevi. The company also markets Journavx, a non-opioid medicine for acute pain, and partnered with CRISPR Therapeutics to develop Casgevy, a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

Vertex serves patients in the United States and international markets, including Europe.