William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 983 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,532 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $31,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $512.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $462.05 and its 200-day moving average is $461.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The firm has a market cap of $131.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.70.

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.