Brokerages Anticipate Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Will Announce Earnings of $3.56 Per Share

Wall Street brokerages expect Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) to post $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Nine analysts have issued estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at $3.43 and the highest estimate coming in at $3.71. Vertex Pharmaceuticals posted earnings per share of $3.11 in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 14.5%. The business is expected to issue its next earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will report full year earnings of $14.13 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $13.75 to $14.49. For the next financial year, analysts forecast that the business will report earnings of $15.03 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $13.74 to $16.34. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that cover Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.84% and a return on equity of 32.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.54 EPS.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. SVB Leerink started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $213.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 27th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $278.10.

VRTX traded up $9.76 during trading on Monday, reaching $268.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,636,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,727,965. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $263.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.75, a quick ratio of 4.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $68.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.55. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $176.36 and a one year high of $292.75.

In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.98, for a total transaction of $80,777.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,095,344.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Joy Liu sold 120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.41, for a total value of $33,049.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,334 shares in the company, valued at $3,947,726.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,012 shares of company stock valued at $11,804,491. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Camden National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 73.0% during the 4th quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 27,395 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,474,000 after acquiring an additional 11,561 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,222 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 24,709 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,482,000 after buying an additional 6,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile (Get Rating)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis. The company markets SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI, ORKAMBI, and KALYDECO to treat patients with cystic fibrosis who have specific mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene; and TRIKAFTA for the treatment of patients with CF 6 years of age or older who have at least one F508del mutation.

Recommended Stories