71 West Capital Partners Makes New $544,000 Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

71 West Capital Partners acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,200 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,484,293,000 after buying an additional 243,088 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth 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. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,771,226,000 after buying an additional 144,266 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $453.17 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $437.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.82. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $507.92. The stock has a market cap of $115.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30.

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 net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 11,133 shares of company stock valued at $4,973,106 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.