Bison Wealth LLC Takes $213,000 Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 524 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $707,950,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $262,961,000 after buying an additional 652,321 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $744,603,000 after buying an additional 640,899 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 144.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 576,398 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $166,452,000 after buying an additional 340,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $81,378,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $424.62.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $393.10 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $414.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $396.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 EPS for the current year.

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.