WASHINGTON TRUST Co Boosts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 801 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total value of $715,205.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,703 shares of company stock worth $26,615,855 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $2.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $466.63. The stock had a trading volume of 641,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,216,544. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $340.83 and a one year high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52. The stock has a market cap of $120.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $481.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $441.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.53 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.