Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Bought by Waverly Advisors LLC

Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 632.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,948 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,409 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $1,374,948,000. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $731,283,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,199,713,000 after buying an additional 1,426,746 shares during the period. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 91.2% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,956,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,190,626,000 after buying an additional 1,410,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,825,928.26. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,813 shares of company stock worth $1,889,514. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $434.03 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $111.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -197.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $477.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $463.56.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.04.

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.