Ascent Group LLC Boosts Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 19.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,796 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,763 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.2% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 994 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 288.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 132 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 423 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,935 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 1,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $468.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $472.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.06.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its 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 net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

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.