Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 417 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,135,556,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,347 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $756,381,000 after purchasing an additional 20,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $464.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $119.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.45 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $346.29 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $474.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.