Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc.

Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,684 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 655 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after buying an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,366,113,000 after acquiring an additional 98,654 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,382,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,214 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,519,302,000 after purchasing an additional 704,575 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $3.94 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $456.38. The stock had a trading volume of 275,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,504. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.20 billion, a PE ratio of -207.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $463.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $460.26. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.