PeakShares LLC Purchases Shares of 2,244 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

PeakShares LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,244 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,017,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,026 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,279,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $451.63 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $438.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $453.13. The company has a market capitalization of $114.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 15,195 shares of company stock valued at $6,801,006 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.