Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,421 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 664 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $731,283,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $503.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $7.62 on Thursday, reaching $460.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,074,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,416,995. The company has a market capitalization of $118.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -209.12, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $462.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $460.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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