Tredje AP fonden Sells 53,585 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Tredje AP fonden cut its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 131,727 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 53,585 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $59,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.17.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total transaction of $27,479,532.79. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,630,027.22. This represents a 49.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total value of $2,394,361.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,559 shares in the company, valued at $8,562,646.35. This trade represents a 21.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 79,802 shares of company stock worth $37,402,568. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $436.58 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.