Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 219,564 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,740 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 1.3% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $114,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,975,849,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,871,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,896,910,000 after purchasing an additional 141,320 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,247,658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,613,209,000 after purchasing an additional 35,069 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,086,683 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,533,248,000 after buying an additional 29,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $1,509,651,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $550.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $410.50 and a 12 month high of $568.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $522.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.70% and a return on equity of 21.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.44.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1989, it develops medicines for serious diseases, with a long-standing focus on cystic fibrosis (CF).

Vertex’s CF treatments include medicines that target the underlying protein defect, such as Trikafta/Kaftrio, Alyftrek, Kalydeco, Orkambi and Symdeko/Symkevi. The company also markets Journavx, a non-opioid medicine for acute pain, and partnered with CRISPR Therapeutics to develop Casgevy, a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

Vertex serves patients in the United States and international markets, including Europe.