Nwam LLC Buys 1,178 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Nwam LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,178 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 valued at $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 valued at $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position 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 valued at $1,170,506,000 after acquiring an additional 100,114 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $474.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $438.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $460.99. The stock has a market cap of $121.85 billion, a PE ratio of -215.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.