Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $480.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target points to a potential upside of 3.05% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VRTX. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.48.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.3 %

VRTX traded up $27.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $465.81. 1,308,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,461,889. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $434.34 and a 200 day moving average of $463.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,486,000 after buying an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $662,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after purchasing an additional 57,497 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,429 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,783,000 after buying an additional 55,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $498,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

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.