GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Grows Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,988 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,351,385,000 after purchasing an additional 159,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $504.77 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $457.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $461.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -229.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share 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.