Elefante Mark B Invests $4.61 Million in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Elefante Mark B acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 9,285 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,612,000. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 2.0% of Elefante Mark B’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Community Financial Services Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 103.7% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $548.05 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $492.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $465.88. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $374.17 and a 12 month high of $555.32. The company has a market capitalization of $139.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.