New Century Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 967 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $1,510,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,630,000 after acquiring an additional 12,631 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 362,334 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $145,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,855 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Erste Group Bank lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $455.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $116.96 billion, a PE ratio of -207.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $462.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.16. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88.

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

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.