Pure Financial Advisors LLC Takes $1.64 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 3,310 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Community Financial Services Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 103.7% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $547.29 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $374.17 and a 1-year high of $555.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $498.36 and a 200-day moving average of $467.66. The company has a market cap of $138.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,628,850. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.