Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $550.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.1 %

VRTX stock opened at $462.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $435.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $461.79. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm has a market cap of $119.13 billion, a PE ratio of -232.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 369,354 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $148,739,000 after purchasing an additional 85,350 shares in the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $1,505,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 60,864 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $1,216,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by 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.