Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ (VRTX) “Sector Perform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $431.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on VRTX. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Argus upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.7 %

VRTX opened at $464.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $341.85 and a 12 month high of $510.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $482.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $452.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after purchasing an additional 837,461 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,080,296,000 after purchasing an additional 244,336 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.