Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 918 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,135,556,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,347 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $756,381,000 after acquiring an additional 20,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $461.71 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $346.29 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $473.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $474.04. The firm has a market cap of $118.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -232.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.