Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has a $500.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $325.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a sell rating and set a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Maxim Group cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an outperform rating and a $515.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $424.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $393.10 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $316.43 and a 12-month high of $448.40. The stock has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $414.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $396.76. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.