Howe & Rusling Inc. Raises Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,126 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 232 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $229,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,051,111 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $423,282,000 after purchasing an additional 261,891 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 53.5% during the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 88,726 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,730,000 after purchasing an additional 37,008 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $553.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.05.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $397.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $101.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $423.87 and its 200 day moving average is $454.15. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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.