First Pacific Financial Has $340,000 Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 836 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,644,492,000 after buying an additional 87,397 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,331,593 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,339,611,000 after buying an additional 124,141 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,409,257 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,700,938,000 after buying an additional 26,538 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after buying an additional 89,217 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $978,388,000 after buying an additional 131,539 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Maxim Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $417.27.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $417.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $309.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $423.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $390.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company posted $3.33 EPS. Analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 6,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.07, for a total transaction of $2,785,977.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 2,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,406.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 6,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.07, for a total transaction of $2,785,977.36. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 2,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,406.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,029 shares of company stock worth $7,989,227 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.