Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 1,302 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,898 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 43.6% in the first quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 827 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 562 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3,000.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 217 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% in the first quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 2,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $969,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 14,535 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,490,000 after acquiring an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.09.

Key Vertex Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex’s $10 billion acquisition of Crinetics is being seen as a major expansion move that could add future growth drivers beyond its core cystic fibrosis business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Vertex as a strong long-term compounder, with articles pointing to its decade-long stock performance and durable earnings power. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on Vertex as one of the best QQQ stocks emphasized the July 1 FDA expansion for CASGEVY, which strengthened the company’s gene-therapy growth story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Additional biotech commentary has kept Vertex in focus as one of the sector’s more attractive names, reinforcing investor interest in the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data was reported at zero shares, which does not provide a meaningful trading signal and is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several other biotech articles mentioned Vertex only in passing or as part of broader sector coverage, with limited direct impact on VRTX.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $485.39 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $533.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $457.12 and its 200-day moving average is $458.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.