Columbia Asset Management Acquires 1,690 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Columbia Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 305.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,243 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares during the quarter. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,484,293,000 after acquiring an additional 243,088 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,482,978,000 after acquiring an additional 444,990 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,836,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,156 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,771,226,000 after acquiring an additional 144,266 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,276,927 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $891,744,000 after acquiring an additional 95,565 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $577.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $436.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $111.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $460.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.54. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $510.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total value of $2,394,361.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,562,646.35. The trade was a 21.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,057,774.95. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 80,431 shares of company stock worth $37,875,167. Corporate 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.