William Blair Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 97.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 22,012 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 110.0% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% in the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $606.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan Biller sold 945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $459,600.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,643,054.65. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $126,451.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,743,185.05. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,156 shares of company stock valued at $42,845,497. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $474.27 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $467.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $433.80.

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.