Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Lowered to $405.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank Of Canada from $430.00 to $405.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on VRTX. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $557.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Fourteen investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.21.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $374.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $454.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.81. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $373.19 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $96.29 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.65 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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 24.28%. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($12.83) earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 543 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 689 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.