Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 20,466 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 174,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,466 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $70,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was 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 $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.4 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $394.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 195,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,556. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $320.01 and a 1 year 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 market capitalization of $102.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $411.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $399.37.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 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.