Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Price

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $464.00 to $460.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the pharmaceutical company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 4.54% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VRTX. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen 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 a consensus target price of $513.14.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of VRTX traded down $8.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $440.02. The company had a trading volume of 903,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,418,750. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $460.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $459.66. The firm has a market cap of $113.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.03 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 3.36% and a negative net margin of 8.91%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.4% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 827,138 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $400,719,000 after buying an additional 128,432 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the first quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 9,126 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,424,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.3% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,404 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $458,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $172,000. 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.

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