Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Acquired by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,656 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,497,000 after acquiring an additional 3,999 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 124,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,535,000 after purchasing an additional 8,866 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $460.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $3.00 on Friday, reaching $495.26. 773,769 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,207,826. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $473.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $436.76. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $503.99. The stock has a market cap of $127.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.56, for a total transaction of $1,015,876.80. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 34,659 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,664.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,128 shares of company stock valued at $22,839,005 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.