Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $10.15 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1,392.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,382 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 20,882 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $596.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.00.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 2,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total value of $930,529.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,914 shares in the company, valued at $5,945,993.02. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total transaction of $27,479,532.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,630,027.22. This trade represents a 49.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,431 shares of company stock valued at $37,875,167. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $426.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $456.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $510.77. The firm has a market cap of $108.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.