GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Grows Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 60,812 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $29,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 45,753 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,182,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Conning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.2% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,835 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the first quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 50,093 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,738,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $454.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $451.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $458.44. The stock has a market cap of $116.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -115.98 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 3.36% and a negative net margin of 8.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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.