Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 77.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 671 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,344 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $490.39 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $533.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $467.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $459.99. The company has a market cap of $124.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.