Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,145 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,612 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $11,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 62.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,817 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 24.1% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3,856.6% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,284 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,201 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,634 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.7% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 5,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,638,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $513.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $459.97 and a 200-day moving average of $461.84. The company has a market cap of $131.93 billion, a PE ratio of -233.53, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.