Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Coverage Initiated at Truist Financial

Key Points

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Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Wednesday. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $542.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company's stock. Truist Financial's price objective points to a potential upside of 22.44% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on VRTX. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $580.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock traded up $6.74 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $442.67. The stock had a trading volume of 103,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,370,201. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $507.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.30. The company's 50-day moving average price is $440.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.25.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 16.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 11,717 shares of company stock worth $5,309,945 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $213,435,000 after purchasing an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $4,695,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex's marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.

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