Ashford Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Ashford Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,192 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $270,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,086 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 546,904 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $265,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of VRTX opened at $391.02 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $433.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $497.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.