Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Purchased by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,657 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,510,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,630,000 after acquiring an additional 12,631 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 3,508 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,005 shares of company stock worth $1,978,465 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 target price (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $434.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $111.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -197.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $483.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.73. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share 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.