Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by HC Wainwright

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $462.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.31% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and upped their target price for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.18.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $418.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $108.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $408.02 and a 200-day moving average of $400.75. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $320.01 and a 12-month high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 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 $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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

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.