Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $480.00 to $486.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 2.78% from the stock’s current price.

VRTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $494.63.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.7 %

NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $27.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $499.88. 1,722,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,871. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $341.90 and a one year high of $510.64. The company has a market cap of $129.02 billion, a PE ratio of -246.25 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total value of $1,086,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 23,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,088,728.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,710 shares of company stock worth $3,298,206 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $277,317,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $257,655,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.