J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Purchases 1,195 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 39.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,026 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,279,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $480.25 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $458.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $458.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $533.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.