Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC Invests $768,000 in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,693 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $213,435,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $956,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,247,566 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $880,237,000 after buying an additional 92,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 447,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $202,612,000 after buying an additional 86,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Maxim Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $451.63 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $438.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.62 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 15,195 shares of company stock valued at $6,801,006 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.