Woodline Partners LP Acquires 16,653 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,418 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 16,653 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $60,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction 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 $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,813 shares of company stock valued at $1,889,514. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $440.66 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $481.88 and a 200 day moving average of $464.15. The stock has a market cap of $113.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -200.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for 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%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

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