GraniteShares Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,712 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 446 shares during the quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $707,950,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% in the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,961,000 after purchasing an additional 652,321 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $744,603,000 after purchasing an additional 640,899 shares during the period. Man Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 144.6% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 576,398 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,452,000 after purchasing an additional 340,716 shares during the period. Finally, BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $81,378,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $3.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $394.17. The stock had a trading volume of 693,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,174. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $415.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $396.46. The company has a market capitalization of $101.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $316.43 and a twelve month high of $448.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.