Crew Capital Management Ltd. Takes $212,000 Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Crew Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 521 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,644,492,000 after buying an additional 87,397 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after buying an additional 147,248 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after buying an additional 89,217 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $978,388,000 after buying an additional 131,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,016,780 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $701,315,000 after buying an additional 67,451 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ VRTX traded down $1.28 on Monday, reaching $396.20. The stock had a trading volume of 604,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,388. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $320.01 and a 12-month high of $448.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $411.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $399.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $2.52 billion for 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 company earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last quarter. 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.