Bamco Inc. NY Sells 5,000 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bamco Inc. NY cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $514.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $500.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -227.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $492.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.91. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.