Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Purchases Shares of 1,503 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,503 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.95.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,487 shares of company stock valued at $14,657,149 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $458.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $118.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $475.76 and a 200-day moving average of $456.14. 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 52 week low of $341.90 and a 52 week high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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 revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current 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.