Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 4,632 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,822 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,632 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,933,000. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $721,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,378,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,147 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,983,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $10,059,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $553.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $490.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $491.95.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of VRTX opened at $426.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $108.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $411.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.24. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.38 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 53,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.72, for a total value of $23,624,354.88. Following the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,588,738.72. This represents a 69.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.