Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Increased to $307.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) had its price target upped by Barclays from $291.00 to $307.00 in a research report released on Friday, The Fly reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VRTX. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 23rd. They issued a market perform rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Cowen upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. They set an overweight rating and a $365.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $258.00 to $325.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $289.90.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.8 %

VRTX opened at $288.03 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $176.36 and a 12 month high of $296.84. The company has a market cap of $73.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.75, a quick ratio of 4.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $277.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.63.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by $0.48. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 32.56% and a net margin of 38.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 12.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 132,079 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.38, for a total transaction of $37,164,389.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 2,423 shares in the company, valued at $681,783.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 11,689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.30, for a total transaction of $3,405,005.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,378,868.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 132,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.38, for a total transaction of $37,164,389.02. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 2,423 shares in the company, valued at $681,783.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,254 shares of company stock valued at $45,899,243. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $269,000. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $229,000. AGF Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. AGF Investments Inc. now owns 4,666 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. JJJ Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 101.5% during the fourth quarter. JJJ Advisors Inc. now owns 133 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 126.7% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis. The company markets SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI, ORKAMBI, and KALYDECO to treat patients with cystic fibrosis who have specific mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene; and TRIKAFTA for the treatment of patients with CF 6 years of age or older who have at least one F508del mutation.