Coastline Trust Co Grows Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Coastline Trust Co raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 13.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,579 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the quarter. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $465.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $341.90 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $476.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $471.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.