Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio trimmed its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,163 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,115 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $33,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% during the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 15,833 shares of company stock worth $7,120,702 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $528.04 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $529.14. The company has a market cap of $134.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $449.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $456.46.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS 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.