Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Bought by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 662 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 576 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $471.76 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The stock has a market cap of $121.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -214.44, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $435.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $460.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.