Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Forecasted to Post FY2024 Earnings of $15.32 Per Share (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) – Research analysts at William Blair increased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report issued on Wednesday, April 17th. William Blair analyst M. Minter now anticipates that the pharmaceutical company will post earnings of $15.32 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $15.28. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is $14.95 per share.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on VRTX. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Maxim Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $393.48 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $414.17 and its 200-day moving average is $396.74. The stock has a market cap of $101.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.35. 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 has a twelve month low of $316.43 and a twelve month high of $448.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,824,103 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $1,237,877,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,961,000 after acquiring an additional 652,321 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $744,603,000 after purchasing an additional 640,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2,272.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 416,545 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.