Claro Advisors LLC Acquires 650 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,075 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $240,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $325,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,372 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,422,000 after acquiring an additional 9,957 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $509.00 to $418.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX traded up $4.67 during trading on Monday, hitting $414.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,247,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,010. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -208.16 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $448.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $467.95. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.