Mainsail Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Mainsail Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 450 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 415,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $194,547,000 after acquiring an additional 11,751 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.1% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,422,000 after purchasing an additional 9,957 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,372 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $240,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $485.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $341.85 and a 12 month high of $510.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $483.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $450.11.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $485.91.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.