Leerink Partners Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Leerink Partners in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $503.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company's stock, down from their previous target price of $550.00. Leerink Partners' price target indicates a potential upside of 17.06% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on VRTX. Barclays increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.0 %

VRTX stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $429.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 196,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,381,469. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business's 50 day moving average price is $489.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $466.24. The company has a market cap of $110.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -195.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,175,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $731,283,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $11,406,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,993 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,199,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

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.