EULAV Asset Management Sells 4,500 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

EULAV Asset Management decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,500 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the quarter. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $14,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 269.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,269,000 after buying an additional 9,193 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,937 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $402,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $448.01 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $346.29 and a one year 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 2.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $475.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -225.13 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.