Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stock Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 294,124 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,277 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $153,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,568,000. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,779,000 after buying an additional 33,917 shares during the period. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $13,823,000. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,495,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $3,187,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $558.88 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $403.16 and a 12 month high of $563.80. The stock has a market cap of $141.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $523.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $570.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company applies expertise in the science of human disease to discover therapies that address significant unmet medical needs.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko/Symkevi, and Trikafta/Kaftrio. These medicines target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis for patients with specific mutations in the CFTR gene.