Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 1,172 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 64.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 659 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,172 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,440,149,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $485.65 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $533.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $462.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $459.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current year.

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.