Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their outperform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $500.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an outperform rating and a $515.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $325.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $393.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $316.43 and a 12-month high of $448.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $396.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,282,180 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,066,396,000 after purchasing an additional 298,824 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,872,586,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,103 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,409,257 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,700,938,000 after purchasing an additional 26,538 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after purchasing an additional 147,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,567,664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,451,647,000 after purchasing an additional 195,080 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.