Wealthfront Advisers LLC Increases Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,932 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,175,722,000 after buying an additional 2,421,073 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during 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 during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,426,746 shares during the period. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 91.2% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,956,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,190,626,000 after buying an additional 1,410,238 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $464.00 to $460.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $511.71.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded down $4.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $458.92. The company had a trading volume of 617,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,419,549. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $448.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.07. The stock has a market cap of $117.85 billion, a PE ratio of -117.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.