Holderness Investments Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Holderness Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 11.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,266 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the quarter. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 161.2% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,968 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 2,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $464.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $482.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.12. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.85 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26.

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

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRTX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $431.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $486.36.

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.