William Blair Comments on Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's Q1 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair boosted their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 17th. William Blair analyst M. Minter now expects that the pharmaceutical company will earn $3.73 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $3.70. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Vertex Pharmaceuticals' current full-year earnings is $15.08 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals' FY2025 earnings at $17.85 EPS.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Maxim Group cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $393.48. The stock had a trading volume of 948,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,130. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm's 50-day moving average is $414.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $396.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $316.43 and a 12 month high of $448.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Insiders own 0.20% 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.