Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 99.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 480 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 65,139 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 32,999 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,960,000 after purchasing an additional 3,552 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $1,323,000. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 36,791 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,115 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $447.54 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $439.06 and a 200-day moving average of $451.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (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 company 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 earned $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 11,717 shares of company stock valued at $5,309,945 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Maxim Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.91.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.