Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Acquired by Atwood & Palmer Inc.

Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,390 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after purchasing an additional 100,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $509.00 to $418.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

VRTX stock opened at $422.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $440.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $466.06. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 EPS for the current 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.