MQS Management LLC Buys 62 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

MQS Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,358 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 62 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,080,296,000 after buying an additional 244,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,135,556,000 after buying an additional 29,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $490.00 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $341.90 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market cap of $126.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -246.23 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $475.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $470.31.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

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.