Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 7,356 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,356 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,080,296,000 after buying an additional 244,336 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,135,556,000 after buying an additional 29,104 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 672,098 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $312,579,000 after purchasing an additional 6,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 666,212 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $312,267,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $451.23 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $346.29 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $475.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $472.74.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.12.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.