Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Acquired by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 807 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 196.0% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 581,018 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $236,410,000 after purchasing an additional 384,730 shares during the last quarter. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,378,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after acquiring an additional 147,248 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $978,388,000 after buying an additional 131,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21,750.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 115,150 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,853,000 after buying an additional 114,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of VRTX traded down $4.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $400.73. The company had a trading volume of 263,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,274. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $316.43 and a 52-week high of $448.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $413.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total value of $1,114,218.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.