Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives $554.30 Consensus PT from Analysts

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $554.3043.

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Maxim Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $606.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $438.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $111.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $468.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $443.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $510.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $301,537.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,284 shares in the company, valued at $3,542,573.40. This represents a 7.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,057,774.95. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 93,485 shares of company stock worth $43,967,586 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,026 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,279,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.