Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Free Report) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 50,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,934,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.
Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals
In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance
Shares of VRTX opened at $547.55 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $374.17 and a fifty-two week high of $555.69. The firm has a market cap of $138.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $500.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.15.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile
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.
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