Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Price

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $423.00 to $415.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective points to a potential downside of 3.57% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $439.00 to $438.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $489.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $4.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $430.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 845,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,401. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $402.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.13. The firm has a market cap of $110.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67 and a beta of 0.43. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisor OS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 543 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% in the second quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 689 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 786 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the second quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,635 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.