Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Financial Avengers Inc.

Financial Avengers Inc. reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Financial Avengers Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $58,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. TFC Financial Management grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 58.0% in the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management now owns 109 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, James Investment Research Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Yuchun Lee sold 442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.17, for a total value of $137,979.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $585,318.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 1,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.04, for a total transaction of $394,861.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,932,774.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Yuchun Lee sold 442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.17, for a total value of $137,979.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $585,318.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $281.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $319.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 24th. Argus lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 17th. SVB Leerink upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $374.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Cowen boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $315.00 to $330.00 in a research note on Friday, October 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $313.80. 165,178 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,365,505. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.46. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $225.01 and a 1-year high of $324.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $303.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.55, a current ratio of 4.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 29.65% and a net margin of 37.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis. The company markets SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI, ORKAMBI, and KALYDECO to treat patients with cystic fibrosis who have specific mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene; and TRIKAFTA for the treatment of patients with CF 6 years of age or older who have at least one F508del mutation.