Empirical Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3,381.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,763 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 63,874 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $26,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,103 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Retireful LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,126 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,272,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,239 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,339 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $416.96 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $444.54 and a 200-day moving average of $466.83. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.38.

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.