Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 650 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 72.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,550 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.6% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,081 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 643 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 502 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,767 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,530,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at $27,825,928.26. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,813 shares of company stock valued at $1,889,514 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $440.66 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $113.16 billion, a PE ratio of -200.30, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $481.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.

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