Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,525,013 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 204,415 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,894,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $461.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $118.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -232.02 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $346.29 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $473.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $474.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.