Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stake Increased by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 845 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $418,000. Mainsail Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 415,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $194,547,000 after acquiring an additional 11,751 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.1% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,422,000 after purchasing an additional 9,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,372 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. 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 report on Monday, August 5th. Argus upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $485.91.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $481.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $483.77 and its 200-day moving average is $451.24. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $341.85 and a 12-month high of $510.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23 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 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 firm posted $3.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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.