Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $512.00 and last traded at $513.60, with a volume of 93462 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $498.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $449.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $456.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 15,833 shares of company stock worth $7,120,702 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,417,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $956,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 447,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $202,612,000 after acquiring an additional 86,084 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,341 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 832,853 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,582,000 after acquiring an additional 69,150 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.