Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 1,740 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 219,564 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,740 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up about 1.3% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $114,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $11,975,849,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,871,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,896,910,000 after acquiring an additional 141,320 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,247,658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,613,209,000 after acquiring an additional 35,069 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,086,683 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,533,248,000 after acquiring an additional 29,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,509,651,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

VRTX stock opened at $550.87 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $522.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $482.40. The company has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $410.50 and a 12-month high of $568.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.70% and a return on equity of 21.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $654.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, September 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $594.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $665.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.44.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.