First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Trims Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,989 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,410 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the second quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the second 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 during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 410 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at $52,767,484. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,088,728.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,487 shares of company stock worth $14,657,149 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.2 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $15.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $483.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,260,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,758. The stock has a market cap of $124.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.90 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $475.21 and a 200 day moving average of $459.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $477.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $492.92.

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.