First Horizon Corp Has $5.51 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

First Horizon Corp cut its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,966 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,324 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,227,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $564,000. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 150,106 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,004,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $441.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $461.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $447.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $510.77. The company has a market capitalization of $112.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total transaction of $27,479,532.79. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,934 shares in the company, valued at $27,630,027.22. This trade represents a 49.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,431 shares of company stock valued at $37,875,167. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VRTX. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.