MML Investors Services LLC Raises Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,077 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,437 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $473.98 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $122.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -238.18 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $473.01 and a 200 day moving average of $475.84. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $351.44 and a 1-year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm 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%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.20.

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.