Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ (VRTX) “Sector Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

by · The Markets Daily

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Free Report) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $431.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

VRTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $486.36.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on VRTX

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $464.92 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $341.85 and a 12-month high of $510.64. The stock has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $482.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $11,104,000. Cim LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cim LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $13,768,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $843,000. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 1,436 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

(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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