Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,089 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,065 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 385.7% in the third quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 35,380 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $18,497,000 after buying an additional 1,121 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 10,086 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,273,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 537 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 528 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.2%

VRTX stock opened at $547.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $412.27 and a 1-year high of $568.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $523.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $483.19. The firm has a market cap of $138.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.28.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by ($0.06). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.98% and a net margin of 30.70%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.10 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $576.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $633.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1989, it develops medicines for serious diseases, with a long-standing focus on cystic fibrosis (CF). Vertex’s CF treatments include medicines that target the underlying protein defect, such as Trikafta/Kaftrio, Alyftrek, Kalydeco, Orkambi and Symdeko/Symkevi. The company also markets Journavx, a non-opioid medicine for acute pain, and partnered with CRISPR Therapeutics to develop Casgevy, a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.