Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from 28 brokerage firms, with 16 analysts recommending a buy and one a strong buy.
• The average price target for Vertex shares among analysts is $493.81, although some firms have recently adjusted their targets lower.
• Insider trading activity includes Director Bruce I. Sachs purchasing 5,000 shares at an average price of $389.68, increasing his ownership stake by 12.5%.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $493.8095.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $167,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,631,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 757 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $408.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $104.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.22 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $400.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $443.73. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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