Bank of Montreal Can Grows Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 557,217 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,789 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $257,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % 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, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $461.71 on Tuesday. 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’s 50 day moving average is $473.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $474.04. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $346.29 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.90 billion, a PE ratio of -232.02 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share 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.