Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 154 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,466 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 557,644 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $224,563,000 after purchasing an additional 95,758 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 234 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 5,556 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 3,845 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LBP AM SA boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,159.5% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 59,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,904,000 after acquiring an additional 54,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.4 %

VRTX opened at $504.77 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $129.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -229.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $457.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.70. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.70.

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.