HC Wainwright Has Lowered Expectations for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Price

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright from $600.00 to $535.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 34.67% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on VRTX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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 current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of $102.31 billion, a PE ratio of -199.63 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $470.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $475.30. 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 released its 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.