Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $555.69 and last traded at $553.1760, with a volume of 294297 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $547.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $137.77 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $498.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $467.66.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,628,850. The trade was a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50,904.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 190,491,484 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $94,622,835,000 after purchasing an additional 190,118,003 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $11,975,849,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after buying an additional 44,537 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.