Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Given a $553.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) has been given a $553.00 target price by investment analysts at UBS Group in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 47.47% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on VRTX. Scotiabank cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $557.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $420.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.21.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $374.98 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $454.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $466.81. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $373.19 and a one year high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.29 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.28% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($12.83) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aries Wealth Management bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,954,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 45.0% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,421 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 189.7% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 359,285 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $139,724,000 after acquiring an additional 235,265 shares in the last quarter. 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.