Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

VRTX has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an outperform rating and a $515.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $404.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $316.43 and a 12 month high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,282,180 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,066,396,000 after purchasing an additional 298,824 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,872,586,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,103 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,605,146,000 after acquiring an additional 147,248 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,567,664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,451,647,000 after acquiring an additional 195,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $1,237,877,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.