WealthPLAN Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

WealthPLAN Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,466 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,872,586,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,103 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after buying an additional 837,461 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $277,317,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $257,655,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $481.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.85 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $483.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.24.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.