Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Purchased by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,662 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 206.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,751 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.4% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,090 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,756,000 after acquiring an additional 9,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,683,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Cowen raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $315.00 to $330.00 in a research note on Friday, October 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $288.00 to $293.00 in a research report on Sunday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $307.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $319.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 1,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.04, for a total transaction of $394,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,077 shares in the company, valued at $10,932,774.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 1,303 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.04, for a total transaction of $394,861.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,932,774.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 621 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $192,510.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,252,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $300.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.46. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $221.69 and a 1 year high of $324.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.55 and a current ratio of 4.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 29.65% and a net margin of 37.62%. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis. The company markets SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI, ORKAMBI, and KALYDECO to treat patients with cystic fibrosis who have specific mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene; and TRIKAFTA for the treatment of patients with CF 6 years of age or older who have at least one F508del mutation.