D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Buys 113,176 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 74.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 265,684 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,176 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.10% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $106,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. The trade was 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price target (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $429.60 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $489.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $466.24. The stock has a market cap of $110.44 billion, a PE ratio of -195.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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.