Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 807 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 86,720 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,286,000 after buying an additional 3,033 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,515,816 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $616,770,000 after buying an additional 5,855 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 330.7% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after buying an additional 2,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after buying an additional 147,248 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Maxim Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX traded up $6.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $406.04. 512,871 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,238,390. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $316.43 and a twelve month high of $448.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $398.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.