S&CO Inc. Makes New $2.04 Million Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

S&CO Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 4,103 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,038,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Community Financial Services Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 103.7% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $505.75 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $483.26 and a 200-day moving average of $463.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $374.17 and a 1-year high of $546.17. The company has a market capitalization of $128.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This trade represents a 12.29% 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 worth $4,959,397 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.