Williams & Novak LLC Takes $277,000 Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Williams & Novak LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 687 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after buying an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $662,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after purchasing an additional 57,497 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,429 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,783,000 after purchasing an additional 55,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $498,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $426.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $440.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $434.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $463.98. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.