Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,578 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $451.23 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $475.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $472.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $346.29 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.