Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $480.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target points to a potential upside of 9.19% from the stock’s current price.

VRTX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $426.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. HC Wainwright decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.84.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $439.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $113.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -220.91, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $435.36 and its 200 day moving average is $464.66. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,486,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $662,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the second 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 last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after buying an additional 57,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,429 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,783,000 after buying an additional 55,739 shares during the last quarter. 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.