Western Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Western Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 159.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,631 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after acquiring an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,146,041,000 after acquiring an additional 44,537 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $1,440,149,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $516.44 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $374.17 and a 1 year high of $546.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $482.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $463.46. The company has a market capitalization of $131.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.