Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Raises Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,963 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after buying an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after buying an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,519,302,000 after buying an additional 704,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,374,948,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $492.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -223.95, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $476.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $463.64. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.