5,784 Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Acquired by MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,784 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $645,000. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,049 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $2,641,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 4,042 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $498.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $452.04 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $426.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.61. The company has a market capitalization of $114.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.