Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis. The company markets SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI, ORKAMBI, and KALYDECO to treat patients with cystic fibrosis who have specific mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene; and TRIKAFTA for the treatment of patients with CF 6 years of age or older who have at least one F508del mutation. Its pipeline includes VX-864 for the treatment of AAT deficiency, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial; VX-147 for the treatment of APOL1-mediated focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, or FSGS, and other serious kidney diseases which is in Phase 2 clinical trial; VX- 880, treatment for Type 1 Diabetes which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trial; VX-548, a NaV1.8 inhibitor for treatments of acute, neuropathic, musculoskeletal pain which is in Phase 2 clinical trial; and CTX001 for the treatment severe SCD and TDT which is in Phase 3 clinical trial. The company sells its products primarily to specialty pharmacy and specialty distributors in the United States, as well as specialty distributors and retail chains, and hospitals and clinics internationally. It has collaborations with Affinia Therapeutics, Inc.; Arbor Biotechnologies, Inc.; CRISPR Therapeutics AG.; Kymera Therapeutics, Inc.; Mammoth Biosciences, Inc.; Moderna, Inc.; Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc.; and Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc.; as well as Ribometrix, Inc.; Genomics plc; Merck KGaA; Darmstadt, Germany, and X-Chem, Inc. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $300.00 to $305.00 in a report on Friday, May 6th. Argus lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $242.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, May 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.05.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance
NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $295.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a current ratio of 3.84. The business's fifty day moving average is $278.51 and its 200 day moving average is $262.00. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $176.36 and a fifty-two week high of $301.80.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 31.22% and a net margin of 38.26%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 12.36 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals
In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 5,690 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.67, for a total transaction of $1,710,812.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 60,996 shares in the company, valued at $18,339,667.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 5,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.67, for a total value of $1,710,812.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 60,996 shares in the company, valued at $18,339,667.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 11,689 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.30, for a total value of $3,405,005.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,153 shares in the company, valued at $32,378,868.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 170,911 shares of company stock worth $48,494,385. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.