Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 517 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.
A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,872,586,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,103 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after acquiring an additional 837,461 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,567,664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,451,647,000 after acquiring an additional 195,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,237,877,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. Evercore ISI raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $460.30.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance
Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $492.26. 988,617 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,210,873. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $436.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $503.99. The stock has a market cap of $127.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.29.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals
In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.46, for a total value of $1,113,688.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $12,474,779.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.46, for a total value of $1,113,688.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $12,474,779.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,128 shares of company stock valued at $22,839,005. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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