Joseph Group Capital Management Purchases 2,608 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares during the quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 689 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the second quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 786 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the second quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,635 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the second quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 323 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $415.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.80.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.0%

VRTX opened at $469.68 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $442.73 and a 200-day moving average of $427.19. The stock has a market cap of $119.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 0.31.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 160,605 shares of company stock worth $71,721,068 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.