Raymond James Trust N.A. Sells 232 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Raymond James Trust N.A. decreased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,829 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,135,556,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,347 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $756,381,000 after purchasing an additional 20,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $450.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $473.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $346.29 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $116.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -226.62 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.