Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,016 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,975,849,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $1,440,149,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,509,651,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $26,725,000. Finally, Solas Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $20,311,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Insider Activity

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $547.29 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $374.17 and a 52 week high of $555.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $498.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $467.66.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.