Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Buys Shares of 1,000 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $1.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $481.24. 999,698 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,220,826. The company has a market capitalization of $124.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $480.98 and its 200 day moving average is $444.42. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $340.83 and a 1 year high of $510.64.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 23,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,088,728.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total transaction of $1,031,908.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,502,484.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,088,728.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,065 shares of company stock valued at $22,731,946. Company 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.