Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $480.00 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.90% from the company’s current price.

VRTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of VRTX traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $440.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 179,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,187. The business has a fifty day moving average of $436.77 and a 200 day moving average of $465.13. The company has a market cap of $113.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -221.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.