Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Raised to $515.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $512.00 to $515.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on VRTX. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $429.60 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $489.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $110.44 billion, a PE ratio of -195.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,175,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $731,283,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. 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.