Empowered Funds LLC Sells 17,482 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 17,482 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $37,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $74,213,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $21,008,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $498,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ VRTX traded down $18.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $465.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,581,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.90 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $119.93 billion, a PE ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $476.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $472.09.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.12.

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.