Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 24.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,338 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,204 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth 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 period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,026 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,279,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. The trade was 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,215 shares of company stock worth $7,272,420. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two 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, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $491.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $442.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.16.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current 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.