Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Position Raised by TKG Advisors LLC

TKG Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 99.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,247 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the quarter. TKG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,983 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,899,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% in 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. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.57.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $462.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $435.25 and a 200-day moving average of $460.44. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.