First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $12.09 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,989 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,410 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after buying an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,080,296,000 after acquiring an additional 244,336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $492.92.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,487 shares of company stock worth $14,657,149 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.2 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $483.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $475.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $459.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52. The company has a market capitalization of $124.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $341.90 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.