Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Down 3.5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) fell 3.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $480.82 and last traded at $481.38. 353,358 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 1,168,399 shares. The stock had previously closed at $498.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $492.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.2 %

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 company has a market cap of $124.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $475.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $459.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total value of $1,086,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,088,728.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,487 shares of company stock valued at $14,657,149. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,218 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after acquiring an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $277,317,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $257,655,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

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.