Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $408.00 to $420.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $484.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -220.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $480.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $463.95.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,409 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,701,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4,913.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,668 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after buying an additional 6,535 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 359.5% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 3,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 57,242 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% in the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 6,917 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,217,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.