Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Position Increased by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 691 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 432,937 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,550,000 after acquiring an additional 26,523 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 427,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $148,485,000 after acquiring an additional 5,514 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $816,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 3rd 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. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $0.08 on Thursday, reaching $417.40. 477,606 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,310,787. The company has a market cap of $107.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.28 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 12 month low of $310.90 and a 12 month high of $448.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $423.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $390.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $379.00 price objective (up previously from $332.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and raised their price target for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $417.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,029 shares of company stock worth $7,989,227. 0.30% 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.