Intrust Bank NA Acquires 309 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Intrust Bank NA raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,350 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 24.1% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 4,126 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,337 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $894,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 783 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 430,638 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $149,750,000 after buying an additional 14,744 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 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 value of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Maxim Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $394.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 65,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,091. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $411.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $399.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $320.01 and a 1-year high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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.