Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Purchased by Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,554 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $1,510,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $662,000. Finally, Davidson Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,630,000 after purchasing an additional 12,631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 1,084 shares of company stock worth $505,512 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $488.29 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $448.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $461.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.39 billion, a PE ratio of -221.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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.