Joy Liu Sells 978 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Joy Liu sold 978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.17, for a total value of $439,288.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,806,728.61. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock opened at $438.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $467.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $443.97. The company has a market cap of $111.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $510.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 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 firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 769.2% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,415 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 5,677 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $27,366,000. Groupe la Francaise grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 7,989 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $136,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VRTX. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $606.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Evercore lifted their price objective 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. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $554.30.

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.