Earned Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $263,000 in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Key Points

• Earned Wealth Advisors LLC acquired 542 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, valued at approximately $263,000, during the first quarter, indicating growing interest from institutional investors.
• Various analysts have given Vertex Pharmaceuticals a mixed outlook, with fourteen ratings as "hold," twelve as "buy," and one as a "strong buy," along with a consensus price target of $509.89.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported earnings of $4.06 per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, while their revenue of $2.77 billion also fell short of expectations.

Earned Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 542 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aries Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $293,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $22,954,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,425,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,421 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,113,000 after buying an additional 1,994 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 189.7% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 359,285 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $139,724,000 after buying an additional 235,265 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $10.67 on Wednesday, hitting $385.65. 4,725,510 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,652,404. The company has a market capitalization of $99.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business's 50 day moving average price is $454.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $466.81. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $372.35 and a 52-week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($12.83) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $497.10.

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.