Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Purchased by First Pacific Financial

First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 76.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,725 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after buying an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 3rd 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 159,693 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after purchasing 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 Stock Down 1.7 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $416.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $444.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $466.83. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Barclays lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $509.00 to $418.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.38.

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.