Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Raised to “Outperform” at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. Evercore ISI currently has $438.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating and lifted their price target for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a sell rating and set a $379.00 price target (up previously from $332.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $420.33.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $396.55 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $316.43 and a 1 year high of $448.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $416.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $396.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,282,180 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,066,396,000 after buying an additional 298,824 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,872,586,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,103 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,409,257 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,700,938,000 after purchasing an additional 26,538 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after purchasing an additional 147,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,567,664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,451,647,000 after purchasing an additional 195,080 shares during the last quarter. 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.