Grove Bank & Trust Boosts Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 374.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,645 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,030,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,435,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,417,000. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $1,286,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.8% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 23,569 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after buying an additional 6,942 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total value of $4,394,252.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,391,225. The trade was a 20.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 93,485 shares of company stock worth $43,967,586 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $554.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $454.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.34 billion, a PE ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $513.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $469.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $440.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.