Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Grows Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,821 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,664 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up approximately 3.2% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $69,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $509.00 to $418.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.58.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.5 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $469.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -235.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $435.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $462.68. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year 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.

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.