Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 1,308 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 66.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 665 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,308 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 141.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,112 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,461,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 662 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 211,804 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $85,293,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 84,491 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,025,000 after purchasing an additional 4,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $505.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value 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 approximately $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $6.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $487.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 683,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,517,347. The stock has a market cap of $125.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -221.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $435.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $460.65. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.