Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $110.78 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 55.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,082 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,611 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.11% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $110,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $190,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,649 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 4,942 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 102 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 30,383 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,235,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,239 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $429.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.44 billion, a PE ratio of -195.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $489.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $466.24. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at $27,825,928.26. This represents a 0.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.