WCM Investment Management LLC Sells 7,804 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

WCM Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,121,341 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,804 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $496,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% during the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $485.65 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $533.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $462.54 and a 200-day moving average of $459.00. The stock has a market cap of $123.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.