HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 12,332 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,015 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,332 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,593,974,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 214.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 763,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $299,097,000 after purchasing an additional 520,949 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,673,126,000 after purchasing an additional 482,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after buying an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.2%

VRTX stock opened at $469.27 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $462.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $428.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRTX. Oppenheimer raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. HC Wainwright set a $591.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,376 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $633,551.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,662,774.61. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 1,751 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total value of $806,212.93. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,150,639.78. The trade was a 7.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 100,852 shares of company stock valued at $45,787,299 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.