Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 1,092 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,379 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,092 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 77,532 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,222,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,335 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,954,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 46,339 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after acquiring an additional 5,665 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 7,988 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,217,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 4,075 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $513.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $131.93 billion, a PE ratio of -233.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $459.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.84. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.