UBS Group Cuts Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target to $546.00

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) had its price target cut by UBS Group from $553.00 to $546.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

VRTX has been the subject of several other reports. Leerink Partners raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $439.00 to $438.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $489.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $409.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $404.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $429.12. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $2,933,000. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $721,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,059,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 58,077 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,856,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the period. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 53.6% during the 2nd quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 5,976 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.