Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 11.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,449 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 330 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 636 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 423 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 326 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $11,088,728.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,259 shares in the company, valued at $11,088,728.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at $55,467,918. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,630 shares of company stock worth $23,447,151 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX traded down $1.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $486.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 810,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,720. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $340.83 and a twelve month high of $510.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $443.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.