Edgewood Management LLC Has $719.19 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Edgewood Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7,876.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 1.9% of Edgewood Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Edgewood Management LLC owned 0.60% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $719,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $449.32 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $115.71 billion, a PE ratio of -225.79 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $346.29 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.58.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during 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%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current 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.