Independent Advisor Alliance Reduces Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,174 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 639 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $464.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -233.45 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $346.29 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $473.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $474.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS 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.