First Horizon Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,199 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 90,173 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during 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 during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $481.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $123.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -218.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $436.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $460.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.