Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $509.00 to $418.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Vertex Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $377.85 and last traded at $396.87, with a volume of 2044282 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $447.50.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.77.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $190,850,000 after buying an additional 21,649 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,912,000. American Trust acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $680,000. Finally, Tri Ri Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $8,726,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $102.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -199.63 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $470.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $475.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

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.