Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co Makes New Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,825 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after buying an additional 44,537 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $1,440,149,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.3%

VRTX stock opened at $482.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $533.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $464.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $459.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share 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.