Cumberland Partners Ltd Has $3.82 Million Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Cumberland Partners Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,744 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 36,826 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,593,974,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 214.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 763,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $299,097,000 after purchasing an additional 520,949 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,673,126,000 after purchasing an additional 482,616 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,949,228,000 after purchasing an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 100,852 shares of company stock worth $45,787,299 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $540.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of VRTX opened at $470.31 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $462.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.83. The stock has a market cap of $119.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.