Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Sells 33 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,350 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,239 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 30,383 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,235,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 102 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VRTX. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $413.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $447.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.53. 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 one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a market cap of $106.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -207.72 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 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.