Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stock: Vestor Capital LLC Trims Stake

Key Points

• Vestor Capital cut its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 96.3% in the third quarter, selling 51,811 shares and ending with 2,016 shares valued at about $1.05 million.
• Vertex reported quarterly revenue of $3.44 billion, above expectations and up 11.8% year over year, while EPS of $4.76 narrowly missed the $4.82 consensus estimate.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $596.44, with 25 Buy and one Strong Buy ratings among 28 analysts.

Vestor Capital LLC reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 96.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,016 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 51,811 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 760 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.5% in the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the third quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 17,113 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 11,085 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,795,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $290,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $550.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.28. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $522.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $410.50 and a 1-year high of $568.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.82 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.70% and a return on equity of 21.98%. The business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $654.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Evercore boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $596.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1989, it develops medicines for serious diseases, with a long-standing focus on cystic fibrosis (CF).

Vertex's CF treatments include medicines that target the underlying protein defect, such as Trikafta/Kaftrio, Alyftrek, Kalydeco, Orkambi and Symdeko/Symkevi. The company also markets Journavx, a non-opioid medicine for acute pain, and partnered with CRISPR Therapeutics to develop Casgevy, a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

Vertex serves patients in the United States and international markets, including Europe.

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