Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Lowers Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,223 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,984 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 1.4% of Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $23,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after buying an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in 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 Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $439.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $435.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.9 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.84.

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.