Sound Income Strategies LLC Boosts Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) by 3,200.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 396 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,243,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,308,875,000 after purchasing an additional 105,908 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,132,336 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,118,657,000 after purchasing an additional 293,861 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,753,011 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,720,832,000 after buying an additional 3,571,298 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,294,791 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,559,834,000 after buying an additional 30,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,157,954 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,493,458,000 after buying an additional 195,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $295.77 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $233.01 and a 52 week high of $325.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $299.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.14. The company has a market cap of $76.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.65. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.20% and a return on equity of 27.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $399,024.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,005,370. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 2,666 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $783,350.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,379 shares in the company, valued at $15,684,351.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $399,024.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,005,370. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,916 shares of company stock worth $12,466,970. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $296.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. SVB Securities cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $374.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, SVB Leerink lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $374.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a global biotechnology company, which engages in the business of discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing small molecule drugs for patients with serious diseases. The firm focuses on development and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases including viral infections such as influenza and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological disorders including pain and multiple sclerosis.