Veracity Capital LLC Acquires 177 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,416 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX traded down $3.50 on Thursday, hitting $470.28. 708,683 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,227,356. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $449.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.99. The firm has a market cap of $121.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $335.82 and a one year high of $486.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 7,288 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total value of $3,483,664.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,634,616. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total value of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 7,288 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total value of $3,483,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,634,616. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,366 shares of company stock valued at $13,058,787 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.