Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 59,554 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 244,336 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,135,556,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during 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 worth $312,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $450.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $116.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -226.62 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $346.29 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $474.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 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.