Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21,750.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 115,150 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,853,000 after purchasing an additional 114,623 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,641 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 3,350 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 174,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $70,892,000 after acquiring an additional 20,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,354 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $485.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total value of $1,089,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 32,379 shares in the company, valued at $15,477,162. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total transaction of $1,089,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 32,379 shares in the company, valued at $15,477,162. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,185 shares of company stock worth $19,206,094. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.5 %

VRTX traded up $2.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $495.89. 1,809,666 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,206,899. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $340.83 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $127.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $482.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $445.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.