Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 5,885 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 15.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,441 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,885 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third 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. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the 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 approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $450.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $346.29 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current 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.