Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Bought by Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 44.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 33,142 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,252 shares during the quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,286,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 379,371 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $148,577,000 after purchasing an additional 49,980 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,097 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 101.1% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 555 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 54.6% during the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 699 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,202,600. This trade represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $415.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.80.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $468.58 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $440.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.49. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05 and a beta of 0.31.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current 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.