First Pacific Financial Acquires 53 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

First Pacific Financial raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 836 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,029 shares of company stock valued at $7,989,227 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $417.32 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $423.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $390.87. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $309.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their target price for the company from $436.00 to $438.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $417.27.

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.