Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $505.61.

VRTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $4.45 on Thursday, hitting $484.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 565,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,514,822. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $124.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -220.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $435.64 and a 200-day moving average of $460.65. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.58 EPS for the current 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.