Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,625 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 450.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. American National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 515.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 80 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 46.2% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 95 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $442.00 to $438.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Leerink Partnrs raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.81.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $403.30 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $399.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $442.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $103.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 0.43.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.