J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 587 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 587 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Heirloom Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management now owns 17,835 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,257,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,977 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,887,000. Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $397.70 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $412.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $398.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The stock has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $316.43 and a fifty-two week high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.