Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Acquired by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 188,387 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,317 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 1.2% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $76,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $402.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,462,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,225,670. The company has a market capitalization of $104.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $320.01 and a twelve month high of $448.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $408.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $400.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $1.15. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.67 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and raised their target price for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Guggenheim raised their price objective 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. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.86.

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.