Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 450 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,190 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,983 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 valued at $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,136,000 after buying an additional 528,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74,015.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 324,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,977,000 after buying an additional 324,188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Citigroup began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $441.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -221.87, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $434.75 and a 200 day moving average of $463.64. 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 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.