Aureus Asset Management LLC Has $1.02 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Aureus Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,186 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 994 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 288.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 132 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 423 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,935 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 1,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $468.13 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $347.51 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -235.24 and a beta of 0.39. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $472.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $475.06.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.