Occidental Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Occidental Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 458 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Strategic Blueprint LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $267,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21,750.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 115,150 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,853,000 after acquiring an additional 114,623 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,064.7% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 198 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 910 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $464.51 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $340.83 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $481.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $441.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Barclays cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $485.91.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 23,259 shares in the company, valued at $11,088,728.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,703 shares of company stock worth $26,615,855. 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.