Keel Point LLC Buys New Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Keel Point LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 564 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 86,827 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,329,000 after buying an additional 3,856 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 752.4% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 23,142 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,416,000 after purchasing an additional 20,427 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,113 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Maxim Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $424.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $394.17 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $101.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $316.43 and a 52-week high of $448.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $415.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $396.78.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.