AdvisorNet Financial Inc Buys 48 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 25th, 2023

AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,201 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,243,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,308,875,000 after purchasing an additional 105,908 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,132,336 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,118,657,000 after acquiring an additional 293,861 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,294,791 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,559,834,000 after acquiring an additional 30,742 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,157,954 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,493,458,000 after acquiring an additional 195,271 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 168.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,755,821 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,377,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,983,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $311.00 price target on the stock. SVB Securities decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $374.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $296.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.90.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $314.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.29 and a 200 day moving average of $299.73. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $233.01 and a fifty-two week high of $325.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.66 and a current ratio of 4.83.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.65. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.20% and a return on equity of 27.78%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.18 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,207 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.55, for a total value of $347,072.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,099,977.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,207 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.55, for a total value of $347,072.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,099,977.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.39, for a total transaction of $592,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,228,221.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,662 shares of company stock valued at $13,885,171 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a global biotechnology company, which engages in the business of discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing small molecule drugs for patients with serious diseases. The firm focuses on development and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases including viral infections such as influenza and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological disorders including pain and multiple sclerosis.