Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 729,200 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 36,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $293,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $495.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -225.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $453.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $461.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share 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.