Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 239 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after buying an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after buying an additional 159,693 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,084 shares of company stock worth $505,512 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $485.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $124.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -220.78, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $446.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $461.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.