Brooklyn Investment Group Acquires 87 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,873 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $463.94 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $346.29 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $473.55 and a 200 day moving average of $474.04. The firm has a market cap of $119.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

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.