Brighton Jones LLC Raises Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 280.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,300 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,171 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delaney Dennis R boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 131.4% during the second quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 2,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 34.9% during the second quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $3,960,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the second quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 11,422 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 962 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $486.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total value of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total value of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $464.92 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $341.85 and a twelve month high of $510.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $482.66 and its 200 day moving average is $451.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.53 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.