Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Buys New Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,729 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $838,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,175,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $731,283,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after buying an additional 1,514,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,199,713,000 after buying an additional 1,426,746 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $450.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $462.11 and a 200-day moving average of $459.98. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $115.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -204.96, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly 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). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.76 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.04.

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.