D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $2.55 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,475 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 611 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $468.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $472.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $474.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $347.51 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $120.56 billion, a PE ratio of -235.24 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 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.