Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $3.01 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 18.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,201 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,428 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in 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. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,756 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $279,000. Finally, Cavalier Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 7,585 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded down $2.10 on Friday, reaching $441.30. The company had a trading volume of 3,615,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,418,238. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.33 billion, a PE ratio of -112.58 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The business's 50-day moving average is $454.50 and its 200 day moving average is $458.72.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of 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. Wolfe Research cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $503.00 target price (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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

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.