Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,435 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 29.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,360 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,644,492,000 after buying an additional 87,397 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after acquiring an additional 147,248 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after purchasing an additional 89,217 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $978,388,000 after purchasing an additional 131,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,016,780 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $701,315,000 after purchasing an additional 67,451 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $462.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.18.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.9 %

VRTX stock traded up $7.74 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $410.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,614,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,230,101. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $320.01 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The company has a market cap of $106.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $408.44 and a 200 day moving average of $400.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.