Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $533.67 and last traded at $522.25, with a volume of 2292484 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $529.59.

Key Headlines Impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex’s acquisition of Crinetics gives it an immediate entry into rare endocrine disease, broadens its pipeline, and could add meaningful long-term revenue growth. Vertex to Acquire Crinetics Pharmaceuticals
• Positive Sentiment: The deal includes an approved drug and a late-stage candidate, which should reduce development risk and strengthen Vertex’s growth story beyond its core cystic fibrosis franchise. Vertex’s Crinetics Deal Balances Growth with Integration Risk
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports noted that Vertex shares pulled back modestly after the announcement, suggesting some investors may be weighing integration risk and the size of the cash outlay. M&A News: Vertex Stock Slips After Announcing $10B Crinetics Acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Two Vertex executives also disclosed pre-planned stock sales, but the trades were executed under Rule 10b5-1 plans, making them less likely to signal a change in fundamentals. SEC filing for Duncan Mckechnie
• Neutral Sentiment: Another executive sale was disclosed under a pre-arranged trading plan, which may add some headline noise but does not necessarily indicate insider concern. SEC filing for Ourania Tatsis

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price target on the stock. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $557.09.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $453.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $457.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,417,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 447,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $202,612,000 after purchasing an additional 86,084 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,341 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,421,000 after buying an additional 3,021 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 832,853 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,582,000 after buying an additional 69,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 414.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,036 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,363,000 after buying an additional 11,306 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.