M Holdings Securities Inc. Buys New Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,410 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,568,000. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,779,000 after buying an additional 33,917 shares in the last quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,823,000. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,495,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,187,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $665.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $576.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $596.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $550.87 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $410.50 and a 52 week high of $568.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $522.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($0.06). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.70% and a return on equity of 21.98%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1989, it develops medicines for serious diseases, with a long-standing focus on cystic fibrosis (CF).

Vertex’s CF treatments include medicines that target the underlying protein defect, such as Trikafta/Kaftrio, Alyftrek, Kalydeco, Orkambi and Symdeko/Symkevi. The company also markets Journavx, a non-opioid medicine for acute pain, and partnered with CRISPR Therapeutics to develop Casgevy, a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

Vertex serves patients in the United States and international markets, including Europe.