Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Increases Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 203,632 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,002 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $82,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $3.06 on Thursday, hitting $397.70. 787,608 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,234,810. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $412.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.38. The company has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.