National Bank of Canada FI Trims Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 42.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,133 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 100,264 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.05% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $57,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 276.7% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 29.0% in the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 5,957 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 269.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 9,193 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 179.2% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,832 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,698 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,629 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $490.80. The stock had a trading volume of 967,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,441. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $498.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $472.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $436.37.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $440.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total transaction of $1,031,908.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,523 shares in the company, valued at $23,502,484.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total value of $715,205.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,467,918. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,848 shares of company stock valued at $21,725,317. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.