Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Given a $455.00 Price Target by Stifel Nicolaus Analysts

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) received a $455.00 price objective from equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential upside of 17.98% from the company’s current price.

VRTX has been the topic of several other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 target price (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $420.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $497.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $385.65 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $372.35 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The company has a market cap of $99.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $453.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $466.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($12.83) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,175,722,000 after buying an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,406,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,199,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,414,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

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.