Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $460.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $492.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $127.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $473.18 and its 200-day moving average is $436.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $503.99.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.46, for a total value of $1,113,688.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,474,779.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.46, for a total transaction of $1,113,688.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,474,779.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,128 shares of company stock valued at $22,839,005. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after acquiring an additional 394,338 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after purchasing an additional 837,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $1,237,877,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.