EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,285 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,438 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,406,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,199,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,382,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,519,302,000 after purchasing an additional 704,575 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $429.60 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $489.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $466.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The firm has a market cap of $110.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -195.27, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51.

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

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.