Raymond James & Associates Sells 23,660 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 318,757 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 23,660 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $133,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded down $3.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $392.81. 1,727,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,226,496. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $320.01 and a 1 year high of $448.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $410.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $399.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.