First Trust Advisors LP Has $136.85 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 52.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 306,461 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 105,171 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $136,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust Co grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 7,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This represents a 21.13% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1%

VRTX stock opened at $473.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $533.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $464.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $459.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

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.