Covestor Ltd Has $171,000 Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Covestor Ltd decreased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 43.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 408 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,260 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,167 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 339 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX traded down $3.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $492.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 302,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,210,490. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $498.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $469.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $435.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total transaction of $1,031,908.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,502,484.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.56, for a total value of $1,015,876.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 34,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,664.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total value of $1,031,908.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,523 shares in the company, valued at $23,502,484.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,646 shares of company stock valued at $14,169,923. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $458.50.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.