Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co Invests $815,000 in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,825 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 832,853 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,582,000 after acquiring an additional 69,150 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 414.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,036 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,363,000 after purchasing an additional 11,306 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,779,000 after purchasing an additional 33,917 shares during the last quarter. Sandro Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $1,436,000. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.9% in the first quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. now owns 34,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,625,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $482.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $122.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $464.12 and a 200-day moving average of $459.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at $7,400,102.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.