Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Acquired by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,687 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $379.00 target price (up from $332.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $417.27.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX traded up $3.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $420.49. The company had a trading volume of 124,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,304,514. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $423.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $390.87. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $310.90 and a twelve month high of $448.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The company has a market capitalization of $108.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,242.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,029 shares of company stock valued at $7,989,227 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.