Vision Capital Management Inc. Acquires 1,541 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vision Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,565 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in 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. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,519,302,000 after purchasing an additional 704,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $464.00 to $460.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $10.68 on Friday, hitting $468.85. The company had a trading volume of 892,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,305. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $120.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.60 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $447.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 8.91% and a negative return on equity of 3.36%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.