Twin Capital Management Inc. Invests $746,000 in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Twin Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,905 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $746,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 56.3% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 852 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 5,323 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.0% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,743 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the third quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 141,871 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $55,366,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.6% during the third quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,504 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.2%

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $477.92 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $457.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.45. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 0.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VRTX. Scotiabank began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Barclays raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $414.00 to $606.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $522.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total transaction of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,088,752.07. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 165,105 shares of company stock worth $73,858,523 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.