1,421 Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Purchased by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,421 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $578,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,644,492,000 after purchasing an additional 87,397 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,409,257 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,700,938,000 after buying an additional 26,538 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after acquiring an additional 89,217 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $978,388,000 after acquiring an additional 131,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $707,950,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business’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 $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.79, for a total value of $201,979.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,174,603.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $393.48 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $316.43 and a 12-month high of $448.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $101.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $414.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $396.74.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.