M&R Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 673 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,763,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $431.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $487.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.34, for a total value of $1,111,135.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,557,311.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the business’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 owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,767 shares of company stock valued at $15,768,284 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $462.14 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $341.85 and a 12-month high of $510.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $478.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share 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.