Avior Wealth Management LLC Has $1.18 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,533 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,080,296,000 after buying an additional 244,336 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,135,556,000 after buying an additional 29,104 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 672,098 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $312,579,000 after buying an additional 6,716 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 666,212 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $312,267,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 662,957 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,768,000 after acquiring an additional 75,045 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $451.23 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $346.29 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $475.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $116.21 billion, a PE ratio of -226.75 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

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.