Portside Wealth Group LLC Boosts Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $277,317,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $257,655,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after buying an additional 394,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $516.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $475.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -259.67 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $341.90 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VRTX. UBS Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.96.

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.