Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,898,457 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 45,147 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.74% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $764,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,366,113,000 after purchasing an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,382,407,000 after buying an additional 1,117,214 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,519,302,000 after acquiring an additional 704,575 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,374,948,000. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 91.2% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,956,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,190,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,238 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $8.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $484.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,574,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,055. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $484.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $464.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The stock has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -220.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $512.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.