Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 83 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,403 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $662,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,994,000 after buying an additional 57,497 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $74,213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $468.13 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $347.51 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $472.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $474.48. The firm has a market cap of $120.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -235.24 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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.