Royal Bank of Canada Increases Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target to $424.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $417.00 to $424.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.24% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Maxim Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $432.18.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $418.82 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $320.01 and a one year high of $448.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $408.02 and its 200-day moving average is $400.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.67 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $816,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $998,050,000 after acquiring an additional 89,217 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,497,000 after acquiring an additional 3,999 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

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.