CI Investments Inc. Reduces Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

CI Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 71.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 35,891 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target 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 decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.61.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at $11,739,600. This represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $473.09 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $464.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $459.67. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $533.67. The company has a market capitalization of $120.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.29.

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

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.