1,680 Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Purchased by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,680 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $27,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% during the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

More Vertex Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Profile of CEO Reshma Kewalramani in TIME highlights strong leadership and continued R&D momentum, which can support investor confidence in Vertex’s long-term pipeline and strategy. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary noting Vertex’s relative performance vs. the Dow suggests the stock still has investor interest and can attract momentum buyers after pullbacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: General coverage in Nasdaq-100 roundup pieces points to continued attention from index investors and analysts — useful for liquidity and index-fund flows but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent Q4 results (Feb 12) showed revenue growth (~9.5% y/y) but a tiny EPS miss ($5.03 vs. $5.05 consensus). Fundamentals remain strong, but the small miss tempers near-term upside until forward guidance or pipeline news arrives. (Earnings release/public filings)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales by several senior execs on Feb 25 — including large disposals such as EVP Duncan McKechnie (4,910 shares; ~21.9% reduction) and several other EVPs/CAO — collectively amount to roughly $4.6M in disclosed sales. Clustered insider selling can trigger short-term selling pressure and signals profit-taking or personal liquidity needs rather than company weakness, but markets often interpret heavy insider sales as a negative near-term indicator. SEC Filing (example)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. HC Wainwright set a $591.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $480.13 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $465.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $431.13.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $301,537.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,542,573.40. This trade represents a 7.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 1,846 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $897,802.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,026,469.50. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 168,937 shares of company stock valued at $77,879,922 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.