Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Invests $1.59 Million in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,588,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,975,849,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $1,440,149,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $26,725,000. Solas Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $20,311,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $928,893,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $552.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $140.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $374.17 and a 1-year high of $555.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.