Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Holdings Lifted by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 313.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,776 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,621 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,510,000. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $22,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $24,630,000 after purchasing an additional 12,631 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.5 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $2.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $509.04. 1,005,720 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,837. The company has a market cap of $130.72 billion, a PE ratio of -231.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company's fifty day moving average price is $469.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.79. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $506.70.

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.