Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Citigroup

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

Several other research firms also recently commented on VRTX. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $465.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $476.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $471.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $341.90 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 137 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 107.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,555 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,592,000 after buying an additional 10,624 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 5,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Cercano Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 70,533 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,483,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. 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.