Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Now Covered by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $575.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

VRTX has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $465.70 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $341.90 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a PE ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $472.09.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently 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.