Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Acquires 1,182 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,822 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,182 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $11,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $696,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 104,895 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $42,241,000 after buying an additional 22,165 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 313.5% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 4,776 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after buying an additional 3,621 shares during the period. Investment House LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 945 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 15,225 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,080,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $512.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.61 billion, a PE ratio of -232.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $464.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $462.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued 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%. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.