UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Has $2.76 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lessened its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,097 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,267 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 48.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 8,402 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,754 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 483 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 15,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,290 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,398,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 81,853 shares of company stock worth $38,479,135. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 target price for the company. Evercore raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $429.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $109.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $507.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $450.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.78.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.06 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.