Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VRTX. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $451.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $116.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -226.75 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $475.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $346.29 and a 1-year high of $519.88. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edgewood Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $277,317,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $257,655,000. 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.