Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Position Lowered by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,780 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,301 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises 2.7% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $59,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd 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. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,825,928.26. This trade represents a 0.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,084 shares of company stock valued at $505,512. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $486.22 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $443.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $461.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -221.01, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, sell-side 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.