Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 575 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after acquiring an additional 100,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $462.11 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $435.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $460.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. Oppenheimer lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.