Intech Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,530 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,831 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 32,999 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,960,000 after purchasing an additional 3,552 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $1,323,000. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 36,791 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $447.54 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $507.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $439.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $451.64. The firm has a market cap of $113.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.54, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 11,717 shares of company stock worth $5,309,945 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.