Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Buys 127 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $783,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 45,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $18,391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,109,000. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,627 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.58.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $481.16 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $435.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $462.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -241.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.