180 Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 462 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $445.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $114.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -202.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $468.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.61.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.04.

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.