Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Given Buy Rating at HC Wainwright

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $462.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.78% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $402.50 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $408.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $400.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $320.01 and a fifty-two week high of $448.40. The company has a market capitalization of $104.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $1.15. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,817 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 941 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,334 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.