Profund Advisors LLC Acquires 3,194 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,546 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,194 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $13,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ninety days, insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.7 %

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 business’s fifty day moving average is $482.66 and its 200 day moving average is $452.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.