Eagle Asset Management Inc. Purchases 1,440 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,119 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $450.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $116.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -226.62 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $474.11 and a 200 day moving average of $473.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $346.29 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly 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 sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.