Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 10,768 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 263,692 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.10% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $117,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 193,959 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,351,000 after acquiring an additional 23,726 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $228,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,000.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 13,292 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,918,000 after purchasing an additional 12,084 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the second quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,858 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.25.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $455.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $115.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $422.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.37.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.38 EPS. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,073 shares of company stock valued at $67,326,816. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.