Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Given Buy Rating at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $600.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $492.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $478.09 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $341.90 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -235.51 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $475.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $460.75.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,285 shares of company stock worth $7,101,755 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.