Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives $542.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $542.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $27,479,532.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,630,027.22. This trade represents a 49.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total transaction of $4,394,252.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,391,225. This trade represents a 20.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 91,156 shares of company stock worth $42,845,497 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 110.0% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% in the 3rd quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $456.69 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $467.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $434.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.