Insider Selling: Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Sells $6,384,000.00 in Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Charles Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $455.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $422.14 and a 200 day moving average of $425.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $1,593,974,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,836,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,156 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,414,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,527 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $484,053,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Citigroup boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.25.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.