Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,694 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $9,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,305 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $600,000. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 89.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,228 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,883 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,174,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,084 shares of company stock valued at $505,512. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $575.00 target price on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $8.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $496.50. 720,274 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,472,853. The stock's fifty day moving average is $451.99 and its 200 day moving average is $461.34. The firm has a market cap of $127.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -225.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.