Fred Alger Management LLC Has $28.22 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 60,203 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $28,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,803,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 107.1% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $201,000. Sfmg LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 7,845 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 49,474 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,189,000 after acquiring an additional 18,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $431.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $462.99 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.85 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The company has a market capitalization of $119.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.04 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $481.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.10. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,767 shares of company stock worth $15,768,284 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.