Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Ourania Tatsis Sells 310 Shares

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % 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.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $459.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $435.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $461.80. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 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 stock has a market capitalization of $118.21 billion, a PE ratio of -230.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,374,948,000. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $731,283,000. Edgewood Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,406,667,000 after buying an additional 1,514,993 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,199,713,000 after buying an additional 1,426,746 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.96.

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.