Canaccord Genuity Group Reaffirms Sell Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Canaccord Genuity Group reissued their sell rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a $371.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VRTX. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $325.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating and lifted their target price for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Maxim Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, March 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $420.33.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $396.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $416.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $396.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 206.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,751 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.4% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,090 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,756,000 after purchasing an additional 9,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,683,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.