Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 86.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,433 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 45,963 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $575.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $18.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $465.70. 2,581,391 shares of the stock were exchanged, 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $476.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $471.06. The firm has a market cap of $119.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.90 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.