Breakwater Capital Group Purchases 27 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Breakwater Capital Group raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,786 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $1,374,948,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,175,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $731,283,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $443.82 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $113.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -201.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $465.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.25.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on VRTX. Wolfe Research lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 target price (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86% 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. Corporate 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.