Brokerages Set Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target at $494.04

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $494.04.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $662,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,084,000 after acquiring an additional 3,998 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after acquiring an additional 57,497 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $21,008,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4 %

VRTX opened at $408.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market cap of $105.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -205.19 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $452.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $469.28.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.