Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $557.50 and last traded at $555.0930, with a volume of 54066 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $547.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $569.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.5%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $505.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $469.83. The firm has a market cap of $139.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,827,900.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,628,850. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50,904.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 190,491,484 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $94,622,835,000 after acquiring an additional 190,118,003 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $11,975,849,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after buying an additional 44,537 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.