3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Has $3.72 Million Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,942 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up approximately 1.1% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after acquiring an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after buying an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,080,296,000 after buying an additional 244,336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $465.08 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $479.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $341.85 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.18 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 sold 31,767 shares of company stock worth $15,768,284 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.