Alpine Bank Wealth Management Invests $102,000 in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 210 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 594 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 623.1% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 7,484 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 18,576 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,006,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the first quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $420.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.14.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $445.82 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $456.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $459.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 2.65. The stock has a market cap of $114.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -113.73 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 8.91% and a negative return on equity of 3.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.