Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Bought by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,734 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,809 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $56,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $425.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -193.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $488.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $465.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 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.