Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Cut to Peer Perform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

VRTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $425.30 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $488.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $465.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -193.32, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,406,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,388,985,000 after buying an additional 232,873 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,199,713,000 after buying an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,382,407,000 after buying an additional 1,117,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,454,373,000 after acquiring an additional 744,680 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.