Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

VRTX has been the subject of several other research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $465.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -235.63 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $476.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $470.57. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $341.90 and a twelve month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,213,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,008,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $498,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.