LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Raises Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,383 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises 1.3% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 98.5% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 209,839 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $98,356,000 after purchasing an additional 26,468 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 16.4% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 5,636 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,642,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 13,729 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,435,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $412.93. 860,257 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,363,095. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -207.50 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $450.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.49.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $509.00 to $418.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.38.

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.