Breed s Hill Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Breed s Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 141.5% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 195.7% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 127,324 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $51,273,000 after purchasing an additional 84,266 shares in the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.2% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 632.5% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Leerink Partners reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $503.00 target price (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $10.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $446.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,038,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,651,414. The stock has a market cap of $114.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -202.73, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $474.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $462.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.76 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,813 shares of company stock worth $1,889,514 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.