Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,916 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,364 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 14,734 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,159,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 137 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.7 %

VRTX opened at $475.60 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $341.90 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -243.20 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $476.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $470.48.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.