NBC Securities Inc. Takes $167,000 Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 694 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 35,796 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,415,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0%

VRTX opened at $446.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $114.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -202.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $464.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $460.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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.