Abundance Wealth Counselors Invests $201,000 in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Abundance Wealth Counselors bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 429 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after buying an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $9,479,011,000 after buying an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $1,237,877,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $472.00. 1,306,865 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,359. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $441.98. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $340.83 and a 52-week high of $510.64. The company has a market cap of $121.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total value of $715,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at $55,467,918. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,703 shares of company stock worth $26,615,855. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $485.91.

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.