Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target Raised to $515.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $460.00 to $515.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on VRTX. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $415.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $452.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $426.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.75. The stock has a market cap of $114.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,202,600. This trade represents a 27.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,188 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 63,945 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045 shares in the last quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,181 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $17,535,000. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.5% during the third quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 4,716 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.