Biotech Stocks To Add to Your Watchlist – May 4th

AbbVie, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals are the three Biotech stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeat’s stock screener tool. Biotech stocks are shares of companies that use biological processes, molecular biology and genetic engineering to develop medical therapies, diagnostics and other life-science innovations. Their prices tend to be volatile and high-risk because valuations hinge on lengthy research and development timelines and the binary outcomes of clinical trials and regulatory approvals. Investors are drawn to biotech stocks for their potential of large returns if a breakthrough succeeds, despite significant uncertainty. These companies had the highest dollar trading volume of any Biotech stocks within the last several days.

AbbVie (ABBV)

AbbVie Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.

NYSE:ABBV traded up $5.28 on Friday, reaching $198.62. 6,424,665 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,081,995. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $196.14 and its 200-day moving average is $187.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.

Shares of TMO traded up $3.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $423.69. 2,492,422 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,769,322. The business has a 50-day moving average of $476.15 and a 200-day moving average of $521.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $409.85 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX)

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.

VRTX traded up $2.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $501.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,652,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,819. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -227.80, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $492.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $467.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.