Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Raised to $510.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $505.00 to $510.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on VRTX. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $465.96 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $481.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $440.75. 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 company has a market cap of $120.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $340.83 and a one year high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.53 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,259 shares in the company, valued at $11,088,728.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,703 shares of company stock valued at $26,615,855 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Seven Mile Advisory boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 642 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 845 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $418,000. Mainsail Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 415,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $194,547,000 after acquiring an additional 11,751 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.