Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Position Lifted by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 94,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,432,000 after purchasing an additional 5,827 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 38,326 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 51.3% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 295 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Callan Capital LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 4,440 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. 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 Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $464.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $482.66 and its 200 day moving average is $452.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $341.85 and a 1-year high of $510.64. The stock 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.53 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.