EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 197 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,709 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 197 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,872,586,000 after buying an additional 3,824,103 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,237,877,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after purchasing an additional 837,461 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2,272.6% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 434,874 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $176,946,000 after purchasing an additional 416,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $3.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $495.26. The company had a trading volume of 774,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,047,785. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $503.99. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $474.18 and its 200-day moving average is $437.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total value of $1,031,908.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,502,484.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,920,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,128 shares of company stock valued at $22,839,005 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $460.30.

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.