Stone House Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 99 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the first quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 543 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the first quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 1,498 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $387.77 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $448.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.96. The company has a market capitalization of $99.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($12.83) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $497.10.

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.