Cooper Financial Group Buys 651 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,682 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,633 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,239 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 30,383 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,235,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on VRTX. Oppenheimer cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $426.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $2.75 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $412.31. 968,157 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,426,136. The firm has a market cap of $106.18 billion, a PE ratio of -207.19 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $448.88 and a 200 day moving average of $467.95.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current 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.