Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Rating Reiterated by Canaccord Genuity Group

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $371.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target suggests a potential downside of 6.44% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.33.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $396.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $416.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $395.82. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% during the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 432,937 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,550,000 after acquiring an additional 26,523 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 427,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $148,485,000 after acquiring an additional 5,514 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $816,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $998,050,000 after acquiring an additional 89,217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.