Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

VRTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating and boosted their target price for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $399.92 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $413.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $398.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 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 business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,872,586,000 after buying an additional 3,824,103 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,237,877,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2,272.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 434,874 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $176,946,000 after buying an additional 416,545 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 196.0% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 581,018 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $236,410,000 after acquiring an additional 384,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $137,975,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.