Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,832 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 763 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 5,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 999 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 5,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,698 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,234,000 after buying an additional 3,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.12.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $465.70 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.90 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $476.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $471.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.