Burney Co. Lowers Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Burney Co. cut its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 83.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,631 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 32,500 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SWS Partners raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the third quarter. SWS Partners now owns 2,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 45.5% during the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 160 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $210,000. Avanza Fonder AB raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 27,053 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 66,501 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,044,000 after purchasing an additional 26,543 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $498.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.0%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $462.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $117.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $435.77 and a 200-day moving average of $426.37.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,073 shares of company stock valued at $67,326,816. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.