New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New $5.36 Million Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,307 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $5,359,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,366,113,000 after buying an additional 98,654 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,495,501,000 after acquiring an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,519,302,000 after purchasing an additional 704,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $1,374,948,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued 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 "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $509.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $2.20 on Wednesday, hitting $482.54. The stock had a trading volume of 330,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,560. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $478.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $463.67. The stock has a market cap of $123.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -219.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.