Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Acquires 510 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $455.45 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $462.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $460.16. The company has a market cap of $116.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -207.02, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price target (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

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.