West Family Investments Inc. Grows Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 75.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,363 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 36,275 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,150,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,697,716,000 after acquiring an additional 65,047 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 966 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $1,593,974,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $7,974,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $433.45 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68. The company has a market cap of $109.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $415.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.38 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $553.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $491.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 53,604 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.72, for a total transaction of $23,624,354.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,588,738.72. This trade represents a 69.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.