ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 123,314 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 457,046 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 123,314 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $207,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after buying an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRTX. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $436.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $110.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $507.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $445.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $450.71.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $324,881.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,964,403.20. This trade represents a 3.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,802 shares of company stock valued at $37,402,568. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.