Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Director Sells $664,290.58 in Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) Director Yuchun Lee sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.02, for a total value of $664,290.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,875 shares in the company, valued at $585,037.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Yuchun Lee also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 18th, Yuchun Lee sold 442 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.17, for a total value of $137,979.14.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $1.71 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $315.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,314,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,365. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $225.01 and a 12-month high of $324.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 4.55, a current ratio of 4.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $296.57.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 29.65% and a net margin of 37.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Cowen increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $315.00 to $330.00 in a report on Friday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $319.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 24th. Argus upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 206.3% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,751 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 69.4% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,090 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,756,000 after acquiring an additional 9,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis. The company markets SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI, ORKAMBI, and KALYDECO to treat patients with cystic fibrosis who have specific mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene; and TRIKAFTA for the treatment of patients with CF 6 years of age or older who have at least one F508del mutation.