Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Lowered to $466.00 at UBS Group

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price objective cut by UBS Group from $498.00 to $466.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on VRTX. Maxim Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $393.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $414.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $396.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $316.43 and a fifty-two week high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $256,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% during the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 21,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 24.0% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 1,594 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the first quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $429,000. Hedge funds and other 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.