Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $431.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a buy rating and a $545.00 target price for the company. Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $477.90 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $483.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $451.58. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $341.85 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 0.40. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 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.