Smith Group Asset Management LLC Sells 26 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 43,633 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after acquiring an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after acquiring an additional 100,114 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $440.68 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -221.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $434.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $463.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 earnings per share 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.