Chase Investment Counsel Corp Sells 436 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp cut its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,744 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 436 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 1.2% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 636 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Arjuna Capital lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 4,375 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $397.22. 253,592 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,215,962. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $411.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $399.17. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $320.01 and a 52-week high of $448.40. The company has a market cap of $102.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current 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.