Malaga Cove Capital LLC Makes New $801,000 Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,989 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,510,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% during the fourth 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. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Leerink Partnrs lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $4.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $438.65. 1,505,089 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,409,926. The stock's 50-day moving average is $482.97 and its 200-day moving average is $464.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $112.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -199.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. 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). The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,005 shares of company stock worth $1,978,465. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.