Hollencrest Capital Management Increases Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 51.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 161.2% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,968 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total value of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $464.92 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $482.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $341.85 and a 52-week high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.53 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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.