CCM Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

CCM Investment Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,202 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,770 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MGO One Seven LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 98.5% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 209,839 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $98,356,000 after buying an additional 26,468 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 16.4% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 29.8% in the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 5,636 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,642,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 13,729 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Bank of America cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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. HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $600.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of VRTX stock traded down $5.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $406.48. The company had a trading volume of 494,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,576. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $450.11 and its 200 day moving average is $468.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.68 billion, a PE ratio of -204.26 and a beta of 0.40.

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