Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday.

VRTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $417.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Maxim Group cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $434.57.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $443.05 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $416.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $408.60. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $320.01 and a twelve month high of $457.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.67 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.79, for a total transaction of $1,478,067.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,915,503.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,920,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.79, for a total transaction of $1,478,067.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 50,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,915,503.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,888 shares of company stock valued at $5,361,977. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,872,586,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,103 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,237,877,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after buying an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $277,317,000. 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.