Burney Co. Reduces Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Burney Co. cut its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 83.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,631 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 32,500 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $1,593,974,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 214.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 763,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $299,097,000 after buying an additional 520,949 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $10,673,126,000 after buying an additional 482,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after purchasing an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $415.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. UBS Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $462.90 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $435.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64 and a beta of 0.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current 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.