Focus Partners Wealth Cuts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Focus Partners Wealth cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,846 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,369 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.05% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $60,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $542.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 target price on the stock. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold 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 price target of $555.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This represents a 21.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 11,133 shares of company stock worth $4,973,106 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $450.46 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $507.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $437.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.67. The company has a market cap of $114.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The company 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 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.