Mirabella Financial Services LLP Raises Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 133.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,377 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,078 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,030,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $213,435,000 after purchasing an additional 20,053 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,286,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 23,569 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,231,000 after buying an additional 6,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 220,346 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,296,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $554.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $451.59 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $515.67. The firm has a market cap of $114.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $469.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $439.57.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 1,846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $897,802.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,026,469.50. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,057,774.95. The trade was a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,485 shares of company stock worth $43,967,586. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.