Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ (VRTX) Sell Rating Reaffirmed at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group restated their sell rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $371.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and set a $438.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $325.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $424.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $397.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $102.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $415.72 and a 200-day moving average of $396.46. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,282,180 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,066,396,000 after purchasing an additional 298,824 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,824,103 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 147,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,567,664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,451,647,000 after buying an additional 195,080 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.