Cynosure Group LLC Sells 643 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Cynosure Group LLC lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 893 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 643 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $662,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,084,000 after buying an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 57,497 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.5 %

VRTX opened at $464.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.45 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $346.29 and a one year high of $519.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $473.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $474.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, 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 transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.