Quest Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 3,856.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,284 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,201 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 269.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 9,193 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,937 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 27.5% during the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $402,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $448.01 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $475.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.89. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $346.29 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market capitalization of $115.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -225.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $499.12.

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.