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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $429.45.

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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, April 11th.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $397.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $412.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $398.37. 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 has a 12-month low of $316.43 and a 12-month high of $448.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.