Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Cut to $540.00 by Analysts at Oppenheimer

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Oppenheimer from $550.00 to $540.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.86% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on VRTX. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $477.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $492.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $3.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $474.26. The stock had a trading volume of 244,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,162,741. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $341.90 and a one year high of $510.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -233.63 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $475.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.79.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.53 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,005 shares of company stock valued at $5,988,066 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,084,000 after buying an additional 3,998 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $74,213,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $21,008,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 386,648 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $161,623,000 after buying an additional 28,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.