Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) PT Raised to $562.00 at UBS Group

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $477.00 to $562.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $431.00 to $425.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $492.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $483.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $475.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $341.90 and a 1-year high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $124.66 billion, a PE ratio of -237.93 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,320,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,285 shares of company stock worth $7,101,755 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $29,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Founders Capital Management grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors 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.