Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,922 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,300 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,922 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $33,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,175,722,000 after buying an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $731,283,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $4,199,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $464.00 to $460.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $420.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $10.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $468.85. 892,738 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,422,170. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $120.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.60 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $448.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $459.98.

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 (EPS) 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 analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.