Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Purchased by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,473 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $13,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock opened at $485.37 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $341.85 and a 12-month high of $510.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $483.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.41. The firm has a market cap of $125.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.