Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VRTX. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Maxim Group cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.18.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.1 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $418.82 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $320.01 and a one year high of $448.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $408.02 and its 200 day moving average is $400.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business’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 $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,817 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 941 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.8% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,334 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.