Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 44.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 818 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 642 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $463.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $475.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.42 billion, a PE ratio of -233.03 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $391.01 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.