Wealthspire Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisor OS LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 543 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% in the second quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 689 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 786 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,635 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $426.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $411.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.07.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 53,604 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.72, for a total value of $23,624,354.88. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,588,738.72. The trade was a 69.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $491.95.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.