Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $6.65 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,898 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 827 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 562 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3,000.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 217 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during the first quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 2,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 14,535 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $485.39 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $533.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $457.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $458.32. The company has a market capitalization of $123.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex’s $10 billion acquisition of Crinetics is being seen as a major expansion move that could add future growth drivers beyond its core cystic fibrosis business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Vertex as a strong long-term compounder, with articles pointing to its decade-long stock performance and durable earnings power. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on Vertex as one of the best QQQ stocks emphasized the July 1 FDA expansion for CASGEVY, which strengthened the company’s gene-therapy growth story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Additional biotech commentary has kept Vertex in focus as one of the sector’s more attractive names, reinforcing investor interest in the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data was reported at zero shares, which does not provide a meaningful trading signal and is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several other biotech articles mentioned Vertex only in passing or as part of broader sector coverage, with limited direct impact on VRTX.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.09.

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.