Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Raised to $407.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $402.00 to $407.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on VRTX. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $462.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $435.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after acquiring an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,382,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,214 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,519,302,000 after acquiring an additional 704,575 shares in the last quarter. 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.