Bailard Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,415 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. State Street Corp lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after buying an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after buying an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,351,385,000 after buying an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,084 shares of company stock worth $505,512 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $479.79 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $440.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $461.05. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.21 billion, a PE ratio of -218.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.