Swedbank AB Cuts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Swedbank AB cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 456,587 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 121,926 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $183,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after acquiring an additional 90,173 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after purchasing an additional 100,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1 %

VRTX stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $440.90. The stock had a trading volume of 147,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,440,316. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $434.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $463.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $113.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -220.70, a PEG ratio of 2.20 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.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $426.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.