Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 217,284 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,900 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $85,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $459.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.51 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $432.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.90.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 151,073 shares of company stock valued at $67,326,816 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.