Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 3,307 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,225 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,307 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $512.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $131.54 billion, a PE ratio of -232.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $462.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $461.95. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

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.