Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stake Lessened by Channel Wealth LLC

Channel Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 23.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,318 shares during the quarter. Channel Wealth LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 31.3% during the first quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 210 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 68,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,460,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $449.52 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.68. The company has a market cap of $114.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.70 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $429.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.79.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.38 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,202,600. This trade represents a 27.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.