Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $7.46 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 98.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,453 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 8,146 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the second quarter worth approximately $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $324,881.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,964,403.20. The trade was a 3.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 21,189 shares of company stock worth $9,923,036 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $434.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $441.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $450.85. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.