Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Position Reduced by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,675 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 3,119 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $42,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,698 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,234,000 after acquiring an additional 3,629 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 179.2% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,832 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 269.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 9,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 276.7% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 price target (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded down $16.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $450.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,162,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,186. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $346.29 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $116.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.68 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $476.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.56.

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. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.