Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 63 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,883 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. This trade represents a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,084 shares of company stock valued at $505,512. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $500.01 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $450.28 and a 200 day moving average of $461.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -227.28, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.