Vertex Pharmaceuticals initiated with a Hold at Canaccord

Canaccord analyst Whitney Ijem initiated coverage of Vertex Pharmaceuticals with a Hold rating and $311 price target. While Vertex transformed the treatment of CF and its continued R&D investment has maintained the pace of innovation with next generation correctors and nucleic acid-based therapies to round out its therapeutic offering, shares are already expensive relative to peers and Ijem struggles to find other things to give it credit for at this point, the analyst tells investors in a research note.