Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Given "Hold" Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their hold rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VRTX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $502.58.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $12.18 on Friday, reaching $482.55. 1,519,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,596,221. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $434.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $462.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -242.49, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Czech National Bank grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $22,486,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $662,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 3,508 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $35,994,000 after buying an additional 57,497 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,429 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $137,783,000 after acquiring an additional 55,739 shares during the last quarter. 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.