SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Makes New $370,000 Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 763 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,199,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,382,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,519,302,000 after buying an additional 704,575 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $450.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -204.77, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $465.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $460.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. 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 announced 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 business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.04.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.

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