Brighton Jones LLC Grows Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 45.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,421 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,994 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.5%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $6.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $448.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,362,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,419,935. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 2.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $461.30 and a 200-day moving average of $459.86. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $115.15 billion, a PE ratio of -114.39 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America increased 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. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $420.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.32.

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.