Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Given New $494.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $490.00 to $494.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the pharmaceutical company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on VRTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $505.73.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $4.36 on Monday, hitting $468.09. 1,510,654 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,187,054. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $473.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $476.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $391.01 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of $120.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.03 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 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.