Simplify Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 698 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 698 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,243,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,308,875,000 after buying an additional 105,908 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,132,336 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,118,657,000 after purchasing an additional 293,861 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,294,791 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,559,834,000 after purchasing an additional 30,742 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,157,954 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,493,458,000 after purchasing an additional 195,271 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,115,540 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,477,266,000 after purchasing an additional 359,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of VRTX traded down $4.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $328.41. The company had a trading volume of 960,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,193,609. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $328.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $311.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $243.17 and a 52 week high of $354.46. The company has a market capitalization of $84.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.49.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.54. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.40% and a return on equity of 25.06%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.48, for a total value of $101,767.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,330,301.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Bastiano Sanna sold 2,746 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.59, for a total transaction of $825,420.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 49,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,809,468.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.48, for a total transaction of $101,767.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,805 shares in the company, valued at $16,330,301.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,497 shares of company stock worth $20,835,867. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. SVB Securities dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $374.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $299.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned 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 price target of $352.59.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a global biotechnology company, which engages in the business of discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing small molecule drugs for patients with serious diseases. The firm focuses on development and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases including viral infections such as influenza and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological disorders including pain and multiple sclerosis.