Griffin Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,408 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,609 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,388,985,000 after purchasing an additional 232,873 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,454,373,000 after acquiring an additional 744,680 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,953,512 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,916,742,000 after acquiring an additional 33,492 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,414,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,559,476 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,240,885,000 after acquiring an additional 230,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.7%

VRTX opened at $407.79 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $393.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $438.74. The firm has a market cap of $104.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.43. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.