Global Trust Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Global Trust Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 49.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 832 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 830 shares during the quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after purchasing an additional 89,217 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 124,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,535,000 after purchasing an additional 8,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VRTX. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $456.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $462.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $444.23.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.5 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $6.97 on Monday, hitting $475.68. 489,020 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,223,697. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $122.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $437.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.99. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $335.82 and a 1 year high of $486.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total value of $1,089,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 32,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,477,162. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total value of $1,089,840.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 32,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,477,162. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,086 shares of company stock valued at $11,983,266 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.