Patton Fund Management Inc. Reduces Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,588 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Williams & Novak LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $277,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 3,466 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,621,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $509.00 to $418.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.7 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $440.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -221.45, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $434.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.