Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Has $578,000 Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 75.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,142 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VRTX. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $394.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 111,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,278. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $396.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $316.43 and a 52-week high of $448.40. 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 company has a market cap of $102.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.