Lion Street Advisors LLC Sells 127 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Lion Street Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 501 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 127 shares during the quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 835 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.1% during the second quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the second quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 29,748 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,943,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $74,213,000. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 34.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 8,881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,163,000 after acquiring an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on VRTX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $485.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 23,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,088,728.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total value of $1,086,990.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 23,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,088,728.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,502,484.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,703 shares of company stock valued at $26,615,855. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $2.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $468.45. 791,680 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,222,840. The company has a market capitalization of $120.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.40 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $481.41 and its 200 day moving average is $440.95. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $340.83 and a 1 year high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

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.