Ourania Tatsis Sells 310 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $462.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $119.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $435.70 and a 200-day moving average of $461.79. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 410 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.96.

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.