Financial Symmetry Inc Takes Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Financial Symmetry Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 0.3% of Financial Symmetry Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,644,492,000 after purchasing an additional 87,397 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,409,257 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,700,938,000 after purchasing an additional 26,538 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $998,050,000 after purchasing an additional 89,217 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $978,388,000 after purchasing an additional 131,539 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $707,950,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $394.23. 400,573 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,558. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The company has a market capitalization of $101.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $316.43 and a 1-year high of $448.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $414.17 and its 200 day moving average is $396.74.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.