Putney Financial Group LLC Sells 196 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Putney Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 719 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,388,985,000 after buying an additional 232,873 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,063 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 1st 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 raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st 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 lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 230,257 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $419.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $401.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $432.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01 and a beta of 0.43. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($12.83) earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $411.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $492.10.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.