Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,192 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 35,233 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $37,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $662,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after purchasing an additional 57,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,429 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,783,000 after buying an additional 55,739 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. UBS Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.7 %

VRTX stock opened at $439.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $436.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $465.13.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 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.