Financial Symmetry Inc Acquires New Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Financial Symmetry Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 0.3% of Financial Symmetry Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $394.23. The company had a trading volume of 400,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,558. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $396.74. The company has a market cap of $101.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $316.43 and a twelve month high of $448.40.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,596,934.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.