Headlands Technologies LLC Raises Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,709 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 685 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $293,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,130 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,175,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 126,098 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,849,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $397.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $411.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $398.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The stock has a market cap of $102.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $320.01 and a one year high of $448.40.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

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.