Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Purchases 294 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,201 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital World Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after buying an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lowered 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 note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $431.00 to $425.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $486.95.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $52,767,484. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the 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 directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at $52,767,484. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,487 shares of company stock worth $14,657,149. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $458.94 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $456.44. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $341.90 and a 52 week high of $510.64. The stock has a market cap of $118.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share 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.