Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 3,065 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,676 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,065 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $13,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 482,616 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,627,135,000 after purchasing an additional 166,987 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,949,228,000 after buying an additional 424,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.42.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,202,600. This trade represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 151,073 shares of company stock valued at $67,326,816 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $456.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $115.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $430.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.87. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68.

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

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.