Sovran Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 5,450 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,450 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 159,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $469.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $435.87 and a 200 day moving average of $462.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.58.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.