Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Buys 361 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,593 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 196.0% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 581,018 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $236,410,000 after acquiring an additional 384,730 shares in the last quarter. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $81,378,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after purchasing an additional 147,248 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $978,388,000 after purchasing an additional 131,539 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21,750.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 115,150 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,853,000 after purchasing an additional 114,623 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $3.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $397.70. 787,608 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,234,810. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $316.43 and a 12 month high of $448.40. The firm has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $412.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares in the company, valued at $11,596,934.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VRTX. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.