Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 33,530 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 193.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 50,867 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,530 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $21,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,497,000 after buying an additional 3,999 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after buying an additional 3,303 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $472.23.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $11.32 on Friday, reaching $494.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,554,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,047,953. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $479.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $439.75. The company has a market cap of $127.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 3.50. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.36%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Reshma Kewalramani 15,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, insider Reshma Kewalramani 15,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,920,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,423 shares of company stock valued at $25,528,865. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.