Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Purchased by First Pacific Financial

First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 836 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $707,950,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,961,000 after buying an additional 652,321 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $744,603,000 after buying an additional 640,899 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 144.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 576,398 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,452,000 after acquiring an additional 340,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $104,834,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $457.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Maxim Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $417.27.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $417.32 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $309.43 and a 1-year high of $448.40. The company has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $423.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $390.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 6,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.07, for a total transaction of $2,785,977.36. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 2,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,406.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 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 transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,029 shares of company stock valued at $7,989,227 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.