Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Has $4.94 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,274 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 827 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,510,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $22,486,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $24,630,000 after acquiring an additional 12,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $514.91.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $492.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,369,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,331,665. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $126.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -223.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50. The business's fifty day moving average price is $489.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $466.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.