Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $431.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VRTX. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $464.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $341.85 and a 52 week high of $510.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $482.66 and a 200-day moving average of $452.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s 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 $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,872,586,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,103 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after purchasing an additional 837,461 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth approximately $277,317,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $257,655,000. 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.