Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

VRTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.8 %

VRTX traded down $18.26 on Wednesday, hitting $465.70. 2,581,324 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,179,486. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $470.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $341.90 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a PE ratio of -235.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 104.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 137 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 107.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,555 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $8,592,000 after buying an additional 10,624 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 5,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,236,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cercano Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 70,533 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $29,483,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.