Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Acquires New Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,729 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $838,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in 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. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew 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 valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $450.91 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $462.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $459.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -204.96, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.76 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Wolfe Research cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $503.00 price target (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.04.

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.

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