Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 461,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,301 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.18% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $214,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 137 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 107.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,555 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 10,624 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 5,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cercano Management LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 70,533 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $29,483,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $18.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $465.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,581,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,121. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $476.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $341.90 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.12.

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.