Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Bought by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,680 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after acquiring an additional 89,217 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 124,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,535,000 after acquiring an additional 8,866 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $467.28 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $434.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $420.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 3.50. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $335.82 and a one year high of $486.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,920,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,086 shares of company stock valued at $11,983,266 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $462.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $456.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $443.55.

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.