West Family Investments Inc. Buys 126 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,080,296,000 after acquiring an additional 244,336 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,135,556,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 672,098 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $312,579,000 after purchasing an additional 6,716 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have 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 $499.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $463.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.41 billion, a PE ratio of -234.68 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $346.29 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $476.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.56.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS 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.