Csenge Advisory Group Trims Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Csenge Advisory Group reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 27.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,144 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 828 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after buying an additional 90,173 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after buying an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after buying an additional 159,693 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $459.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $435.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.99. The stock has a market cap of $118.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -230.65, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 target price for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.57.

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.