Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 50.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,231 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,382,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,214 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,519,302,000 after acquiring an additional 704,575 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,374,948,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $731,283,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $474.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $481.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $463.73. The company has a market capitalization of $121.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -215.74, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.17.

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.