Claro Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,425 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761,414 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $277,317,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $257,655,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74,015.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 324,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,977,000 after acquiring an additional 324,188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $465.70 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $341.90 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $476.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.