Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, a decrease of 22.4% from the March 15th total of 5,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,560,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $489.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $125.60 billion, a PE ratio of -222.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $486.76 and a 200-day moving average of $465.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,175,722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $731,283,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after buying an additional 1,426,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.