Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Coverage Initiated at Scotiabank

Equities researchers at Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.16% from the company’s current price.

VRTX has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $415.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $491.95.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $3.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $437.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 620,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,607,354. The stock has a market cap of $110.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $406.47 and a 200 day moving average of $428.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.38 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,593,974,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,836,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,156 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,414,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,527 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,738,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $484,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.