Ourania Tatsis Sells 1,500 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.99, for a total transaction of $749,985.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,065,538.68. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ourania Tatsis also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 11th, Ourania Tatsis sold 466 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $214,560.38.
• On Wednesday, January 7th, Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.2%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $469.27 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $462.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.12. The firm has a market cap of $119.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 174.4% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 6,541 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,152,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $975,935,000 after purchasing an additional 55,875 shares in the last quarter. Rare Wolf Capital LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $914,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 112,138 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% 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.