Equitable Trust Co. Makes New $244,000 Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Equitable Trust Co. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 524 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,933,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,509 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $39,000. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 30,786 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $516.74 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $341.90 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $133.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -259.67 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $475.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $468.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.