Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 465 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $3,731,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,226.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 93,273 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,561,000 after acquiring an additional 86,242 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 22,141 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,916,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $479,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.8%

VRTX opened at $385.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $453.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.25. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $372.35 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $99.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($12.83) EPS. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $442.00 to $438.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $553.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $497.10.

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.