Burney Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Burney Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,163 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,435,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,030,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,417,000. Advisory Resource Group purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,286,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $956,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $436.27 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $464.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $446.37. The stock has a market cap of $110.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $510.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Jonathan Biller sold 945 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $459,600.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,643,054.65. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $301,537.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,542,573.40. This trade represents a 7.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,431 shares of company stock valued at $37,875,167. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.00.

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.