Malaga Cove Capital LLC Buys Shares of 1,989 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,989 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,993 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of 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 raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,382,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,214 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,519,302,000 after purchasing an additional 704,575 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,005 shares of company stock valued at $1,978,465 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.7%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $432.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $486.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $465.33. The company has a market capitalization of $110.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -196.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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

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.