HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,020 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 16,664 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $24,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 4,470 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,220,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 793 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 7,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Duncan McKechnie sold 1,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 8,719 shares of company stock worth $4,174,147 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $665.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $569.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $528.90 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $374.17 and a 1-year high of $560.25. The stock has a market cap of $134.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $511.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.23.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company combines research in human genetics with drug discovery and development.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes CFTR modulator therapies such as Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko and the combination marketed as Trikafta in the United States and Kaftrio in other markets.