Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,759,216 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 27,512 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.68% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $708,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,965 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $555,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,756 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HealthInvest Partners AB lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB now owns 22,257 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,963,000 after buying an additional 5,264 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

VRTX stock opened at $480.35 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.35 billion, a PE ratio of -218.34, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $436.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.