West Family Investments Inc. Increases Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,698 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,234,000 after buying an additional 3,629 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 179.2% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,832 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,438,000 after buying an additional 3,743 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 269.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after acquiring an additional 9,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 276.7% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRTX shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $463.68 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $346.29 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $476.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.56. The stock has a market cap of $119.41 billion, a PE ratio of -234.68 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.