Baxter Bros Inc. Purchases 76 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Baxter Bros Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 896 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the quarter. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,644,492,000 after buying an additional 87,397 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,605,146,000 after purchasing an additional 147,248 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after purchasing an additional 89,217 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 131,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,016,780 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $701,315,000 after purchasing an additional 67,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Maxim Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.86.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $401.08. 1,064,066 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,004,237. The firm has a market cap of $103.66 billion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $320.01 and a fifty-two week high of $448.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $409.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $399.73. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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

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.