Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Cuts Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 446,861 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,568 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 0.6% of Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.17% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $207,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the second quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VRTX. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $468.13 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $472.87 and a 200 day moving average of $475.06. 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 stock has a market cap of $120.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -235.24 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $347.51 and a twelve month high of $519.88.

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

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.