23,154 Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 23,154 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,501,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 4,470 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,220,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 793 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust Co lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 7,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $563.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,628,850. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $547.55 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $374.17 and a 1 year high of $555.69. The firm has a market cap of $138.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $500.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.15.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.