Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares hit a new 52-week low after Scotiabank downgraded their price target from $442.00 to $438.00, impacting investor sentiment.
• The company's market cap is currently at $96.29 billion, and its stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price averaging $495.21.
• Vertex recently reported earnings of $4.52 EPS for the quarter, exceeding expectations, while also showing an 11.3% year-over-year revenue increase.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $442.00 to $438.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Vertex Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $373.19 and last traded at $374.98, with a volume of 10722106 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $472.27.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $557.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $495.21.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $96.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50 day moving average price is $454.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $466.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 24.28%. The business's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($12.83) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS 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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