Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA Trims Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,312 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,380 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Cannell & Spears LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $477.36 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $533.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $465.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $459.87. The firm has a market cap of $121.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.29.

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 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 firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 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.