Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Holdings Decreased by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,793 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 35.3% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $241,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $190,850,000 after buying an additional 21,649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $488.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.39 billion, a PE ratio of -221.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $448.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $461.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at $27,825,928.26. This represents a 0.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,084 shares of company stock worth $505,512 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.