Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $343.00 to $348.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential downside of 1.28% from the stock’s previous close.
Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $312.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $384.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.23.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on VRTX
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance
Shares of VRTX opened at $352.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $282.21 and a twelve month high of $367.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $349.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $339.13.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.40% and a return on equity of 24.05%. As a group, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 11,250 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.75, for a total value of $4,013,437.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,270,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 11,250 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.75, for a total value of $4,013,437.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,270,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 5,651 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.00, for a total transaction of $1,983,501.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 51,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,218,655. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,534 shares of company stock worth $9,768,759 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% during the second quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 855 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $453,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $340,000. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO and SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF homozygous F508del mutation for CF patients 2 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 4 months or older who have CF with a mutation that is responsive to ivacaftor, and R117H mutation or one of certain gating mutations.
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