Level Four Advisory Services LLC Buys 969 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.0%, owning a total of 8,436 shares valued at approximately $4,090,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Jennison Associates LLC, also raised their holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter, indicating growing confidence in the company.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported $4.52 EPS for the last quarter, beating estimates, and its revenue increased by 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,436 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $11,388,985,000 after purchasing an additional 232,873 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,454,373,000 after acquiring an additional 744,680 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,833,889 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,141,277,000 after purchasing an additional 317,058 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,721,049 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,095,766,000 after buying an additional 355,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,175,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Scotiabank cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $442.00 to $438.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $497.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $2.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $395.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,403,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,534,666. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $101.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $438.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.34.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.