Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ (VRTX) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at Raymond James

Raymond James restated their market perform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on VRTX. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $431.00 to $425.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $486.95.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $481.71 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $457.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $341.90 and a twelve month high of $510.64. The stock has a market cap of $124.33 billion, a PE ratio of -237.30 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,487 shares of company stock worth $14,657,149 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 410 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.