Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by STF Management LP

STF Management LP cut its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,701 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up approximately 0.8% of STF Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. STF Management LP’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,119 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,195,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.6% in the third quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB now owns 16,993 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,903,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,347 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $756,381,000 after buying an additional 20,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DE Burlo Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the third quarter. DE Burlo Group Inc. now owns 49,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,880,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $449.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $474.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.58. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $346.29 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The company has a market cap of $115.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -225.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.