BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Price

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price target cut by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $566.00 to $520.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut 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 issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $397.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $470.41 and a 200-day moving average of $475.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -199.63 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $190,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,649 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $7,912,000. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $680,000. Finally, Tri Ri Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,726,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.