Bank of Montreal Can Grows Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 511,428 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,326 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.20% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $242,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 158 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 423 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were 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 owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $2.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $462.99. 1,416,216 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,193,583. The firm has a market cap of $119.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's fifty day moving average is $482.05 and its 200 day moving average is $452.75. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.85 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.53 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

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.