Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Position Lifted by Adero Partners LLC

Adero Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,380 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the quarter. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,993 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,366,113,000 after acquiring an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,746 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,382,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,214 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,519,302,000 after purchasing an additional 704,575 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $503.00 target price (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $455.45 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $462.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.96 billion, a PE ratio of -207.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.