Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 5,128 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 70,222 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,128 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $28,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after buying an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,351,385,000 after purchasing an additional 159,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after purchasing an additional 100,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $428.00 on Thursday. 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $438.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $426.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $509.00 to $418.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given 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 price target of $490.38.

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.