Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the thirty-one brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and twenty-six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $184.75.
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 13th. Leerink Swann restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 1st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 2nd. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $184.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.
Shares of VRTX stock traded down $1.40 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,526,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a current ratio of 3.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $40,665.95, a P/E ratio of 197.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.49. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $113.66 and a 1-year high of $178.25.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 31st that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the pharmaceutical company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
In other news, SVP Paul M. Silva sold 859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total transaction of $142,636.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,813,883.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Paul M. Silva sold 2,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.08, for a total transaction of $342,141.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,922,882.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 207,052 shares of company stock valued at $33,574,578 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,847,917 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $426,789,000 after buying an additional 1,479,897 shares during the last quarter. HealthCor Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,974.4% during the 4th quarter. HealthCor Management L.P. now owns 725,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $108,649,000 after buying an additional 690,050 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 90.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,203,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $180,315,000 after buying an additional 570,287 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 912,724 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $136,781,000 after buying an additional 462,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 804,827 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $120,611,000 after buying an additional 376,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.
About Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, develops medicines for serious diseases. The company focuses on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) and advancing its research and development programs. It markets ORKAMBI (lumacaftor in combination with ivacaftor) to treat patients with CF 12 years of age and older who are homozygous for the F508del mutation in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene; KALYDECO (ivacaftor) for the treatment of patients with CF who have specific mutations in their CFTR gene, including the G551D mutation; and SYMDEKO (tezacaftor in combination with ivacaftor) to treat patients with CF 12 years of age and older who are F508del homozygous or who have 1 mutation that is responsive to tezacaftor/ivacaftor.
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