Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 368,967 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 33,322 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.14% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $159,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $227,000. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $190,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,649 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,084 shares of company stock valued at $505,512 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $488.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $448.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $461.50. The company has a market capitalization of $125.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -221.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on VRTX. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

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.