Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Acquires 3,255 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 139.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,585 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,255 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after buying an additional 1,514,993 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,199,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,382,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,214 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,519,302,000 after purchasing an additional 704,575 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded down $10.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $468.85. The company had a trading volume of 892,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,305. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $447.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $460.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.60 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 2.65. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 3.36% and a negative net margin of 8.91%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.