Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Buys 114,250 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 664,523 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,250 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.26% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $267,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $731,283,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $435,899,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,136,000 after purchasing an additional 528,029 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $190,037,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $500.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $128.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -227.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.34. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.