Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Position Trimmed by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,146 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 16,119 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $45,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $731,283,000. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $435,899,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during 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 buying an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $506.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded down $6.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $503.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,279,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,791. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a market cap of $129.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -228.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $466.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $462.64. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.