Little House Capital LLC Buys 859 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Little House Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 58.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. UBS Group decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $397.48. 682,467 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 909,553. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $102.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $320.01 and a 1 year high of $448.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $411.60 and a 200 day moving average of $398.93.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total value of $1,114,218.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.