Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,268 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,146 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,268 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $122,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 641 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,084 shares of company stock worth $505,512 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $491.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $126.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -223.47, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $445.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.33.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

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.