Aureus Asset Management LLC Sells 80 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Aureus Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,186 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,135,556,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,347 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $756,381,000 after acquiring an additional 20,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,983 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $468.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -235.24 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $347.51 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $472.87 and its 200 day moving average is $475.06.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share 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.