Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Position Raised by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 85.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,082 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,337 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,259 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 2,715 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 839 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 52.7% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,489 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $438.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $515.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $401.08. 1,062,883 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,222,911. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $409.64 and a 200-day moving average of $399.55. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $320.01 and a 52-week high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.