Bender Robert & Associates Raises Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bender Robert & Associates raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,550 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up 2.9% of Bender Robert & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $11,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 432,937 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,550,000 after acquiring an additional 26,523 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 427,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $148,485,000 after purchasing an additional 5,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $816,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, hitting $393.48. 943,001 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,245,049. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $414.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $396.76. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.