Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Given New $486.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price target raised by Scotiabank from $480.00 to $486.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

VRTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $502.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $129.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -252.49 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $474.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $466.95. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $341.90 and a 52 week high of $510.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.88% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $277,317,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $257,655,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

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.