Natixis Advisors LLC Has $214.81 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 461,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,301 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $214,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 289.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,994,000 after buying an additional 57,497 shares in the last quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 1,523 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 6,579 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,060,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,916 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,147,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 80,102 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,254,000 after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $465.70 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $341.90 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $476.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.06.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on VRTX. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.12.

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.