Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 530 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $487.25 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $474.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $458.81. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $341.90 and a 52-week high of $510.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -240.02 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $488.92.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,487 shares of company stock valued at $14,657,149 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.