Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $555.69 and last traded at $553.1760, with a volume of 294297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $547.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.46. The company has a market capitalization of $140.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50,904.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 190,491,484 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $94,622,835,000 after buying an additional 190,118,003 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,975,849,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.