Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Takes $21.01 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 44,819 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,008,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 99,607 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,529,000 after purchasing an additional 11,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $462.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $341.85 and a 1-year high of $510.64. The company has a market cap of $119.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $479.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $453.57.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,767 shares of company stock worth $15,768,284. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $431.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $486.36.

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.