14,387 Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,387 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,743,000. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises 0.5% of Virtu Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. WealthPLAN Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $687,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 29,473 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,815,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $459,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 662,957 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,768,000 after buying an additional 75,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $219,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $489.43 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $450.90. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $341.85 and a 1-year high of $510.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $485.91.

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.