Empower Advisory Group LLC Takes $232,000 Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Empower Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 734 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 206.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,751 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.4% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,090 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,756,000 after purchasing 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 first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,683,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total transaction of $887,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,266,135. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total value of $887,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,266,135. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.51, for a total transaction of $83,613.42. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,515,406.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,883 shares of company stock valued at $7,785,258. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $312.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $375.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Finally, Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, May 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $348.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a current ratio of 4.14. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $276.57 and a one year high of $367.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $349.72 and its 200 day moving average is $335.79.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.06. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.40% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO and SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF homozygous F508del mutation for CF patients 2 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 4 months or older who have CF with a mutation that is responsive to ivacaftor, and R117H mutation or one of certain gating mutations.