Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Price

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its target price raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $407.00 to $408.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $484.24 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $436.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $460.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -220.11, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $1,374,948,000. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $731,283,000. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,746 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.