Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Bought by Nwam LLC

Nwam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 60.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,129 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,797 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,975,849,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $1,440,149,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $1,509,651,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $26,725,000. Finally, Solas Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,311,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,628,850. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $544.52 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $374.17 and a 1-year high of $555.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $503.63 and a 200-day moving average of $469.22. The company has a market capitalization of $138.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.30.

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

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.