Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Has $10.70 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 5,905 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 13,462 shares of company stock worth $6,095,195 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VRTX. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $542.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VRTX opened at $445.77 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $437.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.