Piper Sandler Increases Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target to $296.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $293.00 to $296.00 in a report released on Thursday, The Fly reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target indicates a potential downside of 4.47% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. Argus boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $307.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $253.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $309.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.55 and a current ratio of 4.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $221.69 and a 52 week high of $324.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.46.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 29.65% and a net margin of 37.62%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Yuchun Lee sold 442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.17, for a total value of $137,979.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $585,318.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $192,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,040 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,400. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Yuchun Lee sold 442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.17, for a total value of $137,979.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $585,318.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,366 shares of company stock valued at $725,350. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Old North State Trust LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. TFC Financial Management raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 58.0% in the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management now owns 109 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 111 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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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.