Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 8,104 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 86,477 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,104 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $34,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.41.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7 %

VRTX opened at $489.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -222.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $486.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.23.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.