Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Cut to “Market Perform” at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $397.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $102.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -199.63 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $470.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $475.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $31,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.