Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Rating Lowered by Wells Fargo & Company

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTXGet Free Report) was downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $460.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.19% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.76.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $441.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $434.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.64. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.70 billion, a PE ratio of -221.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTXGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 66.8% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 188,949 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $76,090,000 after acquiring an additional 75,653 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 22,259 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,964,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. G&S Capital LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 94.0% in the fourth quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,674 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

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