Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,132 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,983 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 valued at $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $338,136,000 after acquiring an additional 528,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74,015.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 324,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,977,000 after acquiring an additional 324,188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $443.88 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $435.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $464.32. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $114.31 billion, a PE ratio of -223.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.