Raymond James Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.95.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $481.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $473.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $456.66. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $341.90 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.33 billion, a PE ratio of -237.30 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,487 shares of company stock worth $14,657,149 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 80,467 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,424,000 after buying an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 410 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $879,000. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 15,010 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,980,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 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.