Telos Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $707,950,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $262,961,000 after acquiring an additional 652,321 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $744,603,000 after purchasing an additional 640,899 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 144.6% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 576,398 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,452,000 after purchasing an additional 340,716 shares during the period. Finally, BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,378,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock traded down $1.16 on Wednesday, reaching $393.01. The company had a trading volume of 415,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,643. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $415.28 and its 200 day moving average is $396.78. The company has a market cap of $101.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $316.43 and a 1 year high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.