Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $480.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $462.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 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. The company has a market cap of $119.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -232.45, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $435.70 and its 200 day moving average is $461.79.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 410 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.