Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Sells 1,983 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 55.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,594 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,983 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,378,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,147 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,983,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $1,286,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 23,569 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after purchasing an additional 6,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the third quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 220,346 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $86,296,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total transaction of $4,394,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,391,225. This represents a 20.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 165,105 shares of company stock worth $73,858,523 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.2%

VRTX opened at $477.92 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $457.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.