GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires 1,634 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,812 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $29,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 12,118 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,880,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 978 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $190,037,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $464.00 to $460.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $503.00 price target (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $511.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded down $2.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $454.64. 763,957 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,418,533. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.75 billion, a PE ratio of -115.98 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company's 50 day moving average is $450.84 and its 200 day moving average is $458.34.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for 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 was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.