RIA Advisory Group LLC Makes New $6.89 Million Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 16,925 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,887,000. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 2.0% of RIA Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,644,492,000 after buying an additional 87,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,409,257 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,700,938,000 after buying an additional 26,538 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after buying an additional 89,217 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $978,388,000 after buying an additional 131,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $707,950,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $394.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,323,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,164. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $414.17 and a 200 day moving average of $396.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $316.43 and a one year high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

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.