Citigroup Upgrades Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) to Strong-Buy

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VRTX. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $23.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $460.14. The stock had a trading volume of 919,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,999. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $341.90 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $476.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $470.57. The company has a market capitalization of $118.50 billion, a PE ratio of -235.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,218 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $277,317,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.