Fred Alger Management LLC Cuts Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Fred Alger Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 70.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,262 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,773 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 265,684 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $106,991,000 after acquiring an additional 113,176 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,389,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $559,594,000 after purchasing an additional 76,695 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,438 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,957 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,729,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0 %

VRTX stock opened at $425.30 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $465.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -193.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.