Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Receives “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

VRTX has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.7 %

VRTX opened at $438.40 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $434.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -220.30, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -1.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $435,899,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,136,000 after acquiring an additional 528,029 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.