Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) PT Raised to $450.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Guggenheim from $445.00 to $450.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.13% from the company’s current price.

VRTX has been the topic of several other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $394.28 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $413.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $397.06. The company has a market cap of $101.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $316.43 and a 12 month high of $448.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 636 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 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.