Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,083 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 4,638 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 835 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% during the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,174 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,832 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the second quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 1,595 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Presilium Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $998,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $462.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $472.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $475.14. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $348.46 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

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.