Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $561,000 in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,113 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 46.2% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 95 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, City State Bank lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 746.2% during the first quarter. City State Bank now owns 110 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $464.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 20th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.71.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $464.20 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $447.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.58. The company has a market cap of $119.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.42 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 8.91% and a negative return on equity of 3.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.76 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.