Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target to $460.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $555.00 to $460.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.62% from the stock’s previous close.

VRTX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. HC Wainwright cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $412.11 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $106.13 billion, a PE ratio of -207.09 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $450.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $468.49.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after acquiring an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after purchasing an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares in the last quarter. 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.