Decatur Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Decatur Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 47.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 4,206 shares during the period. Decatur Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after buying an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 purchasing an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $463.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,032,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,443. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $473.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $475.80. 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 stock has a market cap of $119.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.23 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $391.01 and a one year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $575.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $506.20.

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.