Knuff & Co LLC Sells 252 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Knuff & Co LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,941 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 1.7% of Knuff & Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $435,899,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $338,136,000 after purchasing an additional 528,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,084 shares of company stock valued at $505,512 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $488.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.40 billion, a PE ratio of -221.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $451.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $461.34. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current 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.