Brokerages Set Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target at $486.36

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $486.36.

A number of analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $462.88 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $341.85 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $479.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,767 shares of company stock worth $15,768,284 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,872,586,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,103 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after buying an additional 837,461 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $277,317,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $257,655,000. Hedge funds and other 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.