Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 565 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,510,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,630,000 after acquiring an additional 12,631 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 3,508 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5%

VRTX opened at $440.66 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $481.88 and its 200-day moving average is $464.15. 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 market capitalization of $113.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -200.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51.

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

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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,813 shares of company stock valued at $1,889,514. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.