Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 12,565 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 659,533 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,565 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $265,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.58.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $481.16 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $435.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.93 earnings per share 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.