Credit Suisse Group Boosts Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) Price Target to $195.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Credit Suisse Group from $125.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Wednesday, July 19th. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Credit Suisse Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.50% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Sunday, April 30th. UBS AG reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up previously from $132.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 31st. Finally, Cowen and Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.60.

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) opened at 154.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.22 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $136.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.54. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $71.46 and a 52 week high of $167.85.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.33. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $544.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post $1.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, SVP Paul M. Silva sold 43,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.07, for a total value of $6,997,364.01. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,270,932.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul M. Silva sold 2,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.36, for a total transaction of $343,668.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 22,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,337.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 727,474 shares of company stock valued at $109,161,955. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 225.3% in the first quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 950 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the first quarter. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America now owns 956 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the first quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 1,500 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $197,000. Finally, Sterling Global Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is engaged in discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. The Company is focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) and advancing its research and development programs in other indications.