Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Has $17 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,746 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 17,770 shares of company stock worth $8,238,744. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0%

VRTX stock opened at $477.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $121.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $470.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $460.33. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.06 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.