EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.59 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,438 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 102 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $7.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $432.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,640,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,658,708. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $487.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $465.56. The company has a market cap of $110.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -196.36, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.76 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,005 shares of company stock worth $1,978,465. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.