Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday.
• Analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus (1 Strong Buy, 22 Buy, 6 Hold) with an average price target of $555 per share.
• In its most recent quarter Vertex reported $5.03 EPS (missed estimates by $0.02) and $3.19 billion in revenue, up 9.5% year-over-year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Truist Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $580.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $590.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0%

VRTX opened at $426.01 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $456.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.10. The stock has a market cap of $108.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $510.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 16.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 978 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.17, for a total transaction of $439,288.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,833 shares in the company, valued at $9,806,728.61. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $301,537.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,542,573.40. This represents a 7.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,431 shares of company stock worth $37,875,167. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,440,149,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,836,550,000 after buying an additional 2,053,156 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,521,851,000 after buying an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $166,317,000. 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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