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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $367.04.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $385.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $384.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $346.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a current ratio of 4.14. The company has a market capitalization of $89.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $349.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $334.55. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $276.57 and a 52 week high of $367.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.06. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.40% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 13.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 7,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total value of $2,778,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 118,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,630. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 7,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total transaction of $2,778,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 118,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,211,630. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 11,250 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.75, for a total value of $4,013,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,270,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,883 shares of company stock worth $7,785,258. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,014.3% during the first quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% 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 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.