Global Retirement Partners LLC Buys Shares of 3,925 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,925 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,950,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 4,470 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,220,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 793 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,827,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,628,850. The trade was a 19.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $505.75 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $374.17 and a 12 month high of $546.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.