Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Acquired by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,690 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,424 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $16,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% during the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% in the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 74 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $446.83 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $507.92. The company has a market capitalization of $113.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $437.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $451.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 11,717 shares of company stock valued at $5,309,945 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.