Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) PT Raised to $600.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price objective raised by HC Wainwright from $500.00 to $600.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Argus increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded down $2.62 on Monday, reaching $474.29. 1,624,696 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,220,707. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $479.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $440.12. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $122.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.78 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $340.68 and a 12 month high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total value of $1,031,908.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,523 shares in the company, valued at $23,502,484.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,423 shares of company stock valued at $25,528,865 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21,750.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 115,150 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,853,000 after purchasing an additional 114,623 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 105.3% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,126 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is 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.