Ourania Tatsis Sells 1,500 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.99, for a total transaction of $749,985.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,065,538.68. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Ourania Tatsis also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 11th, Ourania Tatsis sold 466 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $214,560.38.
• On Wednesday, January 7th, Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5%

VRTX traded down $7.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $470.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,662,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,694. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $461.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.33 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $606.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.00.

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.