Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Lifted to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 14th, 2023

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VRTX. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $325.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Westpark Capital started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Argus increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.22.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $349.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $271.61 and a 52-week high of $354.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $341.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.87. The firm has a market cap of $89.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.06% and a net margin of 35.40%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 8,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.00, for a total transaction of $3,002,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,738,044. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 8,603 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.00, for a total transaction of $3,002,447.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 56,556 shares in the company, valued at $19,738,044. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $95,317.98. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,309.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,219 shares of company stock worth $9,122,203 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 206.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,751 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.4% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,090 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,756,000 after buying an additional 9,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. 91.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

(Get Free Report)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO and SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF homozygous F508del mutation for CF patients 2 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 4 months or older who have CF with a mutation that is responsive to ivacaftor, and R117H mutation or one of certain gating mutations.