Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,759 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,604 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 205.6% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $25,000. JJJ Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,288.9% during the fourth quarter. JJJ Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 384.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 126 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.
In related news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,884 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.06, for a total value of $839,177.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,510,313.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bastiano Sanna sold 1,686 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.14, for a total value of $361,040.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,793.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,530 shares of company stock worth $1,409,910 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.
Several research firms recently commented on VRTX. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 3rd. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $307.00 to $347.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 2nd. Zacks Investment Research raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $226.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $252.00 in a research report on Monday, March 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $288.53.
Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $206.80 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $215.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.63. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $202.57 and a 52-week high of $306.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 29th. The pharmaceutical company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 29.61% and a net margin of 43.06%. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 9.42 EPS for the current year.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a global biotechnology company. It engages in the business of discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing small molecule drugs for patients with serious diseases. The firm focuses on development and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases including viral infections such as influenza and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological disorders including pain and multiple sclerosis.
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