Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Cantor Fitzgerald

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 18th, 2023

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $370.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 0.94% from the company’s previous close. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ FY2024 earnings at $15.72 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $385.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. 888 reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $312.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.50.

Get Our Latest Report on VRTX

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1 %

VRTX stock opened at $373.50 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $351.85 and a 200 day moving average of $344.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $282.21 and a 52 week high of $375.93.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.06. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.40% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.51, for a total transaction of $83,613.42. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,515,406.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Jonathan Biller sold 610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.76, for a total value of $211,523.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,664,906.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.51, for a total transaction of $83,613.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,515,406.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,959 shares of company stock valued at $5,226,202. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 206.3% in the first 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 during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.4% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,090 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,756,000 after purchasing an additional 9,761 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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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.