Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Citigroup

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on VRTX. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX traded down $23.82 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $460.14. 919,102 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,171,999. The company’s 50-day moving average is $476.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $470.57. The company has a market cap of $118.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -235.63 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $341.90 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,084,000 after buying an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $74,213,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,008,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $498,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.