Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 2,221 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $894,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,510,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,324,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $24,630,000 after buying an additional 12,631 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 3,508 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,413,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank lowered their target price 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. Erste Group Bank downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given 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 price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $1.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $447.09. The company had a trading volume of 882,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,418,078. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.81 billion, a PE ratio of -203.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $470.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $461.47. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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 Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.