Transcendent Capital Group LLC Reduces Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Transcendent Capital Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 224 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 516 shares during the quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital World Investors grew its stake in 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. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $277,317,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $257,655,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after buying an additional 394,338 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $516.74 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $341.90 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $475.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. 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, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.