Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Navellier & Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $662,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,084,000 after acquiring an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after acquiring an additional 57,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $74,213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3 %

VRTX opened at $452.44 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $475.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $346.29 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.12.

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.