Boston Common Asset Management LLC Buys 1,124 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,205 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 7,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $485.65 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $462.54 and its 200 day moving average is $459.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.