Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 153,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,288 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 2.5% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $60,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $721,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,147 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,983,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $10,059,000. Finally, Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the second quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 58,077 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,856,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 151,073 shares of company stock valued at $67,326,816 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $535.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.80.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $484.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $441.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.89. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.38 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.