Advisory Alpha LLC Has $463,000 Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 16.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 987 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 8,248 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,866,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,909 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,389 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,056 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 92.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,942 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,647 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $487.23.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $469.76 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $341.85 and a 52-week high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $478.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,767 shares of company stock valued at $15,768,284 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.