Castleark Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Castleark Management LLC trimmed its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 46,309 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $1,593,974,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,414,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,673,126,000 after acquiring an additional 482,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,949,228,000 after purchasing an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.42.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $452.04 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $426.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.47.

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