Modera Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Modera Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,853 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,252 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,673,126,000 after acquiring an additional 482,616 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,627,135,000 after purchasing an additional 166,987 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after buying an additional 424,808 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,697,716,000 after buying an additional 65,047 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $468.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.03 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $449.07 and a 200 day moving average of $427.21.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. This represents a 9.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 165,105 shares of company stock worth $73,858,523 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $546.00 in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.