LRI Investments LLC Buys 701 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6,372.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 712 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,999 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,576 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $2,763,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $481.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $340.83 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $480.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $444.24. The stock has a market cap of $124.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 7,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total transaction of $3,483,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at $7,634,616. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,065 shares of company stock worth $22,731,946. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.