Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and sixteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $485.91.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $468.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $481.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $440.96. The stock has a market cap of $120.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $340.83 and a 52 week high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total transaction of $1,031,908.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,523 shares in the company, valued at $23,502,484.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total transaction of $1,031,908.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,523 shares in the company, valued at $23,502,484.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,703 shares of company stock worth $26,615,855 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21,750.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 115,150 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,853,000 after purchasing an additional 114,623 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,108 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,672,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 105.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,381,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,449 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,252,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.