NorthRock Partners LLC Acquires 1,020 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 53.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,925 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,374,948,000. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $731,283,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after buying an additional 1,514,993 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 91.2% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,956,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,190,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 10.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,005 shares of company stock worth $1,978,465 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 $421.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.15 billion, a PE ratio of -191.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $485.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.04.

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.