Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,441 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. Pflug Koory LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $440.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $113.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -221.45, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $434.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $463.98. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 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.