Trillium Asset Management LLC Sells 1,961 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Trillium Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,144 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,961 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 1.0% of Trillium Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $30,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,568,000. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $13,823,000. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $4,495,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,871,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,896,910,000 after purchasing an additional 141,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $3,187,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, November 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $594.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $4.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $538.60. 755,937 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,580,871. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $136.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $522.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $483.84. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $412.27 and a 52-week high of $568.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its 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). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.70% and a return on equity of 21.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.10 EPS for the current year.

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.