Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 98,654 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,654 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.03% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $9,366,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $503.20 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $467.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $462.60. The stock has a market cap of $129.22 billion, a PE ratio of -228.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.