Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Position Raised by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 32.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,595 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,400 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $235,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 13,263 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,922,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 101.8% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 84,324 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,654,000 after purchasing an additional 13,971 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This represents a 21.13% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,215 shares of company stock worth $7,272,420. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $491.34 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.70 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $442.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.24.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.