Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Mission Wealth Management LP

Mission Wealth Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 30.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,967 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,742 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% in the second quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 689 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Eastern Bank raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,635 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 323 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 4,244 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $455.00 to $546.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $522.68.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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 sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total value of $4,394,252.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,391,225. The trade was a 20.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $470.52 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $456.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.39. The stock has a market cap of $119.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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.