Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stock: Apollon Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management cut its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 10.9% in the third quarter, selling 6,977 shares and retaining 56,933 shares valued at approximately $29.8 million.
• Vertex reported quarterly revenue of $3.33 billion, up 12.5% year over year and ahead of estimates, while EPS of $4.73 narrowly missed consensus by $0.01. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $579.81; Vertex shares recently opened at $523.93.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,933 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 6,977 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $29,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hedeker Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 9,264 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,749 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 249.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 3,609 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, MN Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,129 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $523.93 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $403.16 and a twelve month high of $560.25. The company's 50-day moving average price is $523.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $483.59.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $653.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $570.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $579.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company applies expertise in the science of human disease to discover therapies that address significant unmet medical needs.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko/Symkevi, and Trikafta/Kaftrio. These medicines target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis for patients with specific mutations in the CFTR gene.

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