Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by WCM Investment Management LLC

WCM Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,150,132 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 13,538 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC owned 0.45% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $454,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $1,593,974,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 214.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 763,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $299,097,000 after buying an additional 520,949 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,673,126,000 after acquiring an additional 482,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,949,228,000 after acquiring an additional 424,808 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $472.01 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.29 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $454.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.05.

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, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $522.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total transaction of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.