Insider Selling: Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) CMO Sells 6,988 Shares of Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Carmen Bozic also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 13th, Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $2.65 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $450.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,088,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,383,058. The company has a market cap of $114.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $446.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $213,435,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,417,000. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,695,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.