Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 871 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 43,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $12,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.2% during the second quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 36,500 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,285,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the second quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,571 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 31,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 643 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 8th. Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $291.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 5th. Maxim Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $325.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 1st. Finally, Cowen raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $305.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, June 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $291.65.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.9 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 38.26% and a return on equity of 31.22%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 132,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.38, for a total transaction of $37,164,389.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 2,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,783.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 132,079 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.38, for a total transaction of $37,164,389.02. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 2,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,783.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Joy Liu sold 3,747 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.90, for a total transaction of $1,138,713.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,605 shares in the company, valued at $2,918,959.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 196,831 shares of company stock worth $56,532,979 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis. The company markets SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI, ORKAMBI, and KALYDECO to treat patients with cystic fibrosis who have specific mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene; and TRIKAFTA for the treatment of patients with CF 6 years of age or older who have at least one F508del mutation.

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