Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 11.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,052 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 450.0% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $32,000. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 515.4% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 80 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 95 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $403.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $103.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 0.43. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $399.12 and a 200 day moving average of $442.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($12.83) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.