First Pacific Financial Acquires 53 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 836 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $707,950,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% in the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,961,000 after acquiring an additional 652,321 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $744,603,000 after buying an additional 640,899 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 144.6% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 576,398 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,452,000 after purchasing an additional 340,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $104,834,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $417.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $309.43 and a 1-year high of $448.40. The company has a market capitalization of $107.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $423.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $390.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $417.27.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,029 shares of company stock valued at $7,989,227. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.