Morgan Stanley Reiterates "$439.00" Price Target for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has reduced its price target for Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460 to $439, indicating a potential downside of 7.04% from the stock's previous close, while maintaining an "equal weight" rating.
• Despite Morgan Stanley's downgrade, other analysts including JPMorgan Chase & Co. have raised their targets and maintained higher ratings, reflecting a consensus average target of $505 across multiple analysts.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals recently reported a quarterly EPS of $4.52, exceeding expectations and achieving an 11.3% revenue growth compared to the same quarter last year, underlining its financial stability.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) received a $439.00 price objective from equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the pharmaceutical company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential upside of 17.07% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on VRTX. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $420.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $495.21.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 20.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $374.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 2.65. The firm has a market cap of $96.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80 and a beta of 0.44. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $373.19 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $454.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.28% and a net margin of 31.86%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($12.83) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 543 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 689 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.