Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 78.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,366 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,838 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% in the second quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 689 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 786 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,635 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 323 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $474.17 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $450.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.86. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68. The firm has a market cap of $120.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $606.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Scotiabank started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $522.68.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total transaction of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.