Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) saw a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, an increase of 23.3% from the July 15th total of 4,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $5.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $477.37. 1,181,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,119. The firm has a market cap of $123.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $480.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $442.27. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $340.83 and a twelve month high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,703 shares of company stock valued at $26,615,855 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $29,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $485.91.

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.